


Damned to be Mine

by CheatsatUNO



Series: Feathers and Fire [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe- Supernatural, Angels, Demons, Hell Hounds, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-05
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2017-12-13 09:32:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/822770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheatsatUNO/pseuds/CheatsatUNO
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat is a hard working Hell Hound, he's had to be to get over the fact that he's a freak. One day he accidentally hurts a human that he wasn't charged with hunting down. A major break of the rules. Karkat takes the human home and patches him up. John seems attached to Karkat almost immediately and Karkat can't refuse the human once he's started pouting. Shenanigans ensue and secrets are revealed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, I'm really excited about this! This was not originally my idea. I saw a request for a picture on tumblr about a hell hound Karkat and he accidentally hurt john which was against the rules since john was not who he was after. And I kinda ran away with it. hehehe. I hope its ok that I'm doing this and I think it is because when I say I ran away with it, I am not kidding. I plan for this to be a fairly long actually. So I hope you look forward to this as much as I do!

==> Be John

You jump the last couple of feet off the small foot bridge and back onto the jogging trail that winds through this part of the park. It is a very large park with many secluded areas as well as playgrounds and gardens and you had to walk through it to get to your apartment building from school.

You are majoring in music and are currently humming the tune to the song you’d had to play for your professor this morning. The birds seemed to like the song and you think for a moment they might be trying to take it for themselves. 

The small stream that the foot bridge crossed bubbled behind you and the water sounded pretty relaxing and so did the small breeze that whistled through the trees a few yards away from the trail you walked on. You liked to take this path home, not only was it comforting but it was the shortest route!

You continue to hum and walk and begin counting the stars as they appear into the slowly darkening sky. You never get to see many of them because you live in the city but the ones you can see are always beautiful. You barely notice the sound approaching you but once you do, it sounds like fighting. Snarling and growling, were those dogs? You turn around quickly and see a short flash of what you think are purple flames? You begin to question yourself and your eyes, when something dark and furry is tumbling into you.

A searing pain flashes through your side and you hear the fabric of your shirt rip as claws tear into flesh. You fall to the ground and hit with a hard smack and your head hurts now along with your bleeding side. You moan and catch a glimpse of the animal that attacked you and your eyes widen further in shock.

A large dog, about the size of a German Shepard is snarling at the trees. Its fur is a dark grey-black and has patches of pure black fading into the grey to look less like patches and more like shading. What really surprise you are the bright red flames pluming from the animal’s heels. You don’t feel heat from them but they kinda scare you and you wonder if you’re seeing things. Your glasses had fallen off when you fell. Maybe you had a concussion. Wouldn’t be the first time.  
Your hopeful delusions turn south when the flames from its heels rise and engulf the dog from head to toe… or ear to paw. A figure rises from the flames and you don’t see a dog anymore but a human. His skin is a light brown, like caramel and his messy array of hair is a deep brown. If you hadn’t seen the whole “transformation” thing, you’d guess he was Pakistani.

“Dammit Gamzee! Get back here you crazy fuck! Oh fuck! Shit shit shit.” He curses and you smile despite yourself, this guy swore like a sailor! You stop smiling when you feel a hand on your shoulder and moan in pain as it lightly shakes you. Fuck! You side hurt like hell and he wasn’t helping any with the motion.

“Shit!” He curses again when he sees the blood pooling near your abdomen and you cringe at the coppery smell of it. Your stomach churns and you close your eyes tightly, but not in pain. You want the memories to stop. 

“Hey! Hey fuckass! Shit shit shit. Are you ok?” He’s asking you and you smile again.

“Doesn’t seem like it puppy.” You know you’re delirious now because that isn’t what you wanted to say. You wanted to cry out that he needed to get you to a hospital or something.

“Don’t you fucking die! If you die I’ll probably get demoted and fuck if I’ll let your scrawny ass fuck up all my hard work. Now hold still and don’t scream. I’m not trying to hurt you.” He says, growling like a dog but only… more human? Ugh, your side really hurt. Speaking of your side, it is now in unbearable pain because what’s-his-face-dog-boy had decided to pick you up. 

You moan involuntarily and his arms hold you a bit closer. For some reason, you feel better in his arms, like your wound doesn’t hurt as much anymore. Why is that? Oops, forget that, it felt worse now that he was moving.

“Are you even listening to me? Hurry up and tell me where you live!” He’s yelling again and you frown, he was pretty rude for a… for anyone really. You raise your arm and point down the path leading to your apartment building.  
You aren’t sure what happens next because your body choses then to black out.

\--

You wake up on your couch, it’s so soft and comfy and you just want to snuggle down deeper into it but there is a hand on your cheek and you aren’t sure why. Who was in your apartment? Hadn’t you locked the door when you’d come in? You don’t remember coming in.

“Hey, are finally awake? Fuck.” Comes the gruff voice of your unknown house guest. You open your eyes and hey, there’s that guy.

“I guess that wasn’t a dream then?” You chuckle because what were the chances this would happen? There weren’t any. You wince at the sharp pain in your side that accompanies your humor. The boy moves to hold you but thinks better of it and deepens his scowl.

“Ok listen, I don’t know why you keep laughing, most people in your position would be freaking the fuck out. Screaming and flipping their shit all over the place and here you are, like some brain dead infant, laughing. You’ll re-open your wound. It wasn’t as bad as it looked but there was a fuck ton of blood.” He scrunches up his nose in disgust.

“Thank you.” You say after a moment, taking the time to fully realize you have no shirt on and your pants are filthy with dirt and a little blood on the right—were you were cut. There is crisp white gauze around your midsection with only three pale red slashes, that you assumed were where the scratches were, showing that there had been any bleeding. He had patched you up after you’d passed out and you silently thank God you had been unconscious for it.

“For what, exactly?” He sneers, still with an expression of contempt. You smile wider.

“For the whole, first aid thing.” You as matter-of-factly. Wasn’t that a bit obvious? He only shakes his head and averts his red gaze from you to look at the floor.

“You really are brain dead.” He mutters and you laugh nervously.

“What’s your name?” You ask after the awkward silence had gone on for long enough.

“Karkat.” He mutters again and you resist the urge to laugh aloud at that. He’d been a dog of some kind and his name was Kar“cat”. You muffle your snickers with your left hand.

“Mine is John. So now that we are properly acquainted, would you mind telling me what the whole dog thing was?” You wiggle your eyebrows and smirk. He looks up and for a moment he looks horrified then his scowl comes back full force.

“What the actual fuck is wrong you? Are you diseased or do you like just being a fucking weirdo. Why aren’t you casting me out? I’m a fucking demon!” He screams at you and you notice teeth sharper than they should and your stomach does an awkward flip but you try to stay calm. He seems to have caught his mistake and is leaning away from you and looking down again. “Whatever. I’ll do it for you since you don’t have the proper grace to do it yourself.” He stands up but you grab his wrist. He tenses and you realize with a start that his nails, or claws you should say since they are kind of long and pointed, are curled like he was ready to take a swipe at you. 

He probably was.

“Sorry.” You say quickly and retract your hand just as fast. “Just don’t leave.” You frown and you know you probably sound like a spoiled little kid right now but you don’t want him to leave. Maybe you are brain dead…

“Whatever.” He sighs and settles down next to you on the floor.

“S-so you said you were a demon? That’s kinda cool-?” You stop when he glares at you. “What?” It comes out in a timid whisper and that seems to make his face soften a bit.

“Whatever.” He repeats. “It’s a lot fucking cooler than being one of you fragile humans. And I’m not an actual demon, I'm a Hell Hound. There's a difference though I don't know what.” He takes to looking you in the eye as he speaks and you are grateful for it even if his eyes are kind of freaking you out. They almost glow in the lowlight of your living room. Why were there no lights on?

“I guess that explains the whole dog thing?” You try and he shrugs.

“That’s kinda like… my true form, I guess? I can change it, like now. Oh, and the fire represents my power.” He adds.

“It makes you sound like you’re a pyro.” You giggle and he sneers at the sound but you can’t help it and smile apologetically. 

“I’m a demon; it’s kind of in the job description.” His lips quirk up only to fall again after a second of almost-smiling. Your own smile widens and you risk the pain of sitting up. It’s uncomfortable but it didn’t hurt as much as you’d feared. 

“So, who’s Gamzee?” You ask, remembering the name Karkat had called once he had changed.

“Oh, _that_ ass? He’s one of the Hounds in my unit. He refuses to take his medication so I was going to force it on him.” Karkat deadpanned, seemingly bored. “Oh, and by unit I mean like a group. Hell Hounds usually work in groups so we can get more done. Units are usually under the jurisdiction of a Handler. They are responsible for us so if we fuck up they get blamed. But then of course we get torn a new one for making them look bad to the higher ups. Lucky for my group, our Handler is one of the higher ups. Or unlucky I guess because the douchebag is either too busy or too unwilling to give a proper fuck.” Karkat shrugs and you giggle.

“What’s so fucking funny?” Karkat snaps.

“You are, of course!”


	2. Chapter 2

==> Be Karkat

Ok, so you officially have no idea in hell (hehehe) what the fuck is wrong with this miserable excuse for a human. First you accidentally scratch while chasing after Gamzee—the whimsical bastard giving you the slip—and now you were calmly chatting about how you were a demon, after said attack, in this guy’s living room. He was giggling and saying you were funny and it was doing weird things to your insides. 

People did NOT call you funny, Sollux did but that was because he was a sarcastic asshole that could go fuck himself with that damned annoying lisp of his. But this one, John, was genuinely smiling at you with his impossibly blue eyes that you could grudgingly stare into forever. Ugh, you hate yourself for even thinking something as cheesy as that.

“I’m not funny.” You say bluntly but that only makes you smile wider. Ugh, those horrendous buck-teeth, he probably made dentists cry themselves to sleep at night. But you can’t help the unwanted thought that they are actually kind of cute.

“If you say so Karkat. Oh! What time is it?” He asks you, blue eyes sparkling and his cheeks are finally getting enough blood back to them that they can flush. You look at the clock on John’s stove and reply.

“About 9:30. Why?”

“Yes!” John risks a tiny motion of celebration and pumps his fist into the air. And by ‘pump’ you mean ‘shakes it slightly in an elevated fashion because he’s an idiot and keeps forgetting that his side is injured’. “I want to thank you properly for patching me up so we should go out to dinner.” He looks so excited that it almost hurts you to be the one that makes that smile falter.

“No. I’m not going anywhere on some awkward human date with you. Period.” You snort and he looks hurt.

“It wasn’t like that Karkat, not a date, a thank you. You did patch me up and bring me home after all.” His voice sounds tiny and you sigh.

“I was also the one that hurt you dumbass. You seem to keep forgetting that.” John shakes his head.

“Yeah, but that was an accident. You didn’t mean to.”

“John, let me tell you the honest truth: I only helped you so my job wasn’t in danger. If a human dies at the hands of a Hell Hound, a human that wasn’t meant to, that Hound gets into some pretty deep shit, ok? I was looking out for my own neck got it?” It’s only half true. Sure it was a big rule that if a Hound killed someone other than their target they’d get demoted big time—and you’d be damned if you’d let that happen, you worked hard to get your ass up where you were!—but you’d also felt something stir when he’d smiled at you with his eyes half-lidded in the clutches of delirium and blood loss.

“Whatever man, I’m thanking you because that’s what my Dad taught me to do so suck it up. What do you want to do?” John’s face sets into one of determination and it’s adorable the way he thinks he has some sort of power over you. It’s depressing how he’s almost right.

“I want to go home but fine.” You snarl. His face brightens. “But you aren’t getting up off this couch! We can order a pizza or something.” You add.

“We could watch a movie too! Oh Karkat, do you like movies?” He squirms in delight when you nod, seriously though, what was wrong with him? “I do too! We can have a Nic Cage marathon and eat pizza and be bros!” Ugh, the fuck were getting yourself into? Why was it so hard to punch that delicate human face of his and then just abscond the fuck out of here?

“Karkat, what kinds of movies do you like? My DVD’s are over there next to the TV, you go pick out a few you like while I call in an order.” John pulls out his cellphone and types in a number and cheerily asking for a large meat-lovers pizza and two bottles of Coke. You go back to perusing his inane collection of movies.

“This is all shit.” You call back to John.

“What do you mean?” He asks, confusion clear in his voice.

“You’re movies, they’re all shitty action flics. Not a refined piece of cinema anywhere… except maybe 50 First Dates.” You conclude, the last part mostly to yourself but he hears regardless.

“50 First Dates? Oh man, don’t tell me you’re into romcoms?!” John burst into laughter before taking a sharp intake of pained breath.

“That’s what you get you little shit.” You snarl and he smirks up at you, eyes glazed over before the shine returns. “And for the record, my romcoms are twice the cinematic gold that your shit excuses for entertainment could ever even hope to dream of. Your movies’ hopes and dreams are what my movies achieve in their daily fucking lives.” You begin to rant but are cut off by John’s inane and horribly charming laughter.

“And you insisted you weren’t funny! That’s fucking adorable Karkat! You’re so into chick-flics!” Another bought of laughter that is cut short by mild gasping but you don’t worry because his face is still plastered with a smile. “You’re the worst demon ever!” He gasps in pain and laughter and you freeze.

John’s obnoxious sounds go on for another moment before he realizes the sudden change in your attitude.

“Karkat? What’s wrong?” He asks, blinking behind those stupid glasses of his, black mop of hair even messier with his recent activities.

“Nothing new.” You growl, a low sound in your throat and John flinches, a frown etched into his features. Damn, how did that make you feel guilty? Fuck this human and his stupid face. “It’s just… you’re right.”

“What? Karkat, no I was kidding! I mean, people just assume demons are this really scary thing and you’re nice and you like romcoms and all.” John tried to defend, stretching out his left hand towards you.

“Then you’d be fucking right!” You laugh without humor. “I’m a freak.”

“You’re not a freak just because you like and act differentl-”

“Ha! If only! If only it was personality alone that made me detestable. John, you saw my fire, it was bright red. That isn’t a color that is supposed to exist for Hell Hounds. There is a certain spectrum for this kind of thing and there are eleven colors. Mine is not there. I’m lucky they didn’t kill me the second they found out. And if that wasn’t enough, my tail is a joke! Did you see it? How short it was?” You’re practically seething now and John nods slowly, eyes wide but he doesn’t  
look scared. Just concerned. Fucking idiot.

“Tails are another judge of power, even Sollux’s tail is twice as big as mine and he’s just barely scraping the bottom of the fucking barrel, above only two other colors! That asshole even has the gall to have two tails! What the actual fuck, how is that fair?!” You stomp your foot and now you’re just acting like a child and fuck, why hasn’t he demanded you shut up yet? No one lets you complain for long, this is actually the farthest you’ve gotten. Yet John is just listening quietly. You stop talking; you’re not sure what to say, you don’t think it would be fair to just dump all your problems and insecurities on the human so you just stop. John takes the silence as the end.

“I’m sorry Karkat, I didn’t mean to bring all this up. And if it helps, I like your tail, it’s…” He looks like he wants to say something, blushes, then thinks better of it and continues. “I don’t think I’d like it very much if it were bigger.”

“I’m not on a mission to please you fuckass…” You snarl half-heartedly and turn away, red staining your dark cheeks. You shouldn’t care that he liked your tail, it should insult you that he liked it. You should punch him in the face and leave. But you don’t. “But thanks.” You grumble and mentally kick yourself when it comes out loud enough for him to hear. 

And he giggles. The bastard giggles. You are now seriously reconsidering the whole “not hitting him” thing when a knock at the door sounds. You stalk over to it  
and greet the pizza man with a hard glare.

“Uh…” His eyes shift from you and it may or may not be because of your eyes but who gives a shit? You excuse yourself for a moment and John's giggles continue upon your reentry. 

“Forget something?” He laughs.

“I don’t have any money with me.” You state and rolls his eyes and reaches into his pocket to retrieve his wallet. You scold yourself for looking at the expanse of his mostly covered chest. Seriously, what was wrong with you? He was a skinny little human with only a little muscle definition in his chest and arms and soft cream skin and oh fuck, he’s looking right at you with a mischievous smirk.

“What are looking at Karkat?” His voice is unbearably teasing and you snatch the money out his hands, hissing.

“I was checking to see if you were bleeding with all the squirming you’ve been doing. Stop it!” You go back to the door and all but throw the money at him and take the pizza from the nervous man and slam the door.

“Karkaaat, no need to be ruuuude!” John drawls lazily and you bring the pizza, which actually smells pretty good, out to the living room and set it on the coffee table in front of John. “Could you be a dear and get some plates from the kitchen? They’re on top of the refrigerator.” He teases and you lightly smack his head, feeling only a little satisfaction. You wish you could hit him harder.

You retrieve two paper plates and come back. John directs you to a movie that will “without a doubt” save the reputation of his collection. You put in a movie and nibble on the pizza next to John. The movie John chose was called Con Air, and by the first ten minutes in you decided it was as big a piece of shit as everything else in the idiot’s collection.

 

\--

 

John has fallen asleep, head resting on your shoulder, after the third movie. The movies may have sucked but you would be lying if you hadn’t enjoyed yourself a little tonight. Which was why you were leaving right this instant. 

No good could come from befriending a human or a Hell Hound. One or both of you would end up hurt. He may have been accepting of your being a demon, for whatever reason that may be, but you’d never told him what it was Hell Hounds actually do. 

Handlers got a list of people, souls, to take in their assigned areas and handed out jobs to their Hounds. Hounds tracked and killed these people, dragging their souls back to their Handlers for a final judgment before being sent off to Hell. You didn’t think much of it, it was your job after all, but you’re positive John wouldn’t be too keen on knowing you killed random people.

You don’t think John truly understood what you being a demon really meant, that you were on the “bad” side of things.

You lay John in his bed and move a thick strand of ebony hair out of his eyes and remove his glasses and fold them neatly on his night stand. It’s time to leave.  
You stand in front of the door, after having picked up the mess you two made in the small living room and locking it. You ball your fist at your sides. A bright red flame started at your feets and consumed your person and suddenly you were a Hound. One of the perks of being a Hell Hound was that it went with the job description that you had to be a bit stealth so as not to be discovers—lot of good you were at that obviously. You melt into the shadows and slip under the now locked door. You take a solid form again outside in the early morning darkness and slip away.


	3. Chapter 3

==> Be John

You wake up, warm and cocooned in your bed. It feels wrong. This isn’t where you fell asleep last night. You distinctly remember the strong scent of coffee before you’d fallen into the clutches of unconsciousness. Karkat smelled like coffee. You swivel your head from side to side and wonder where he is. He must have carried you in here.

A smile plays across your lips at the thought and let yourself imagine it. Warm arms around you, careful of your wound—which to your surprise didn’t hurt that much anymore—and laying you down in bed. It’s comforting and you scold yourself for acting like this. You met him last night after he’d attacked you, accidentally, and he was a demon on top of that. A dog demon that could change forms. A Hell Hound. 

And you already had a hopeless crush on him. Ugh, Karkat was right about you being defective. You obviously weren’t normal.

You sigh and get out of bed, wincing only once, and make your way to your bathroom. Oh God was your hair a complete mess! It looked worse than it usually did which was pretty much a permanent bedhead. A shower will do you good, you decide and unwrap the bandages. You examine the three, think claw marks on your side.

They were long, thin, and deep but the skin around them was smooth so the cut had been clean. You shudder at the thought of such sharp claws. The skin doesn’t look inflamed so you don’t think it’s infected and you smile broadly. Karkat really did a good job of fixing you up. 

After a fifteen minute shower and an uphill battle to get your hair in some semblance of order, you dress the scars in some cream from your first aid kit and rewrap it. The marks start a few inches under your right pectoral and end at your hip. Once that’s done nice and tight you trudge into clothes and leave your apartment. You splurge and take the bus so you don’t have to walk the ten minutes to work.

You’re glad that your job is basically to stand around and watch people rent movies because if you had an active career you’d probably just skip work today. When the bus drops you off you see Dave, your absolute best bro, standing in front of the movie rental store you work out with two smoothies in hand.

“Yo Egbert! You’re almost late.” He reprimands teasingly, holding out the left smoothie. You take it and sip the straw, magical blueberry bliss flows over your tongue and you smile.

“Sorry Dave, I got caught up in… stuff.” You laugh nervously and scratch your neck. Dave remains silent for a moment. You have five minutes to get to work, which you are standing outside of so you have time to talk. “What?” you ask after his silence is unbearable.

“I’m waiting for you to tell me what said ‘stuff’ was. We’ve got four minutes so make ‘em count.” He takes a long sip from his smoothie; strawberry, if you had to guess.

“Well… um. It’s really hard to explain.” You say, it’s not a lie but it’s mostly just an excuse.

“I’m listening.” Dave deadpans and you know that he’ll just bother you until you tell him so you relent. What harm could it do? Dave was your best friend, he had been ever since you were eight. After your mother disappeared. He might not believe you but you don’t think he’d go running off to have you committed to an institute. Right?

“Well um… Dave? Do you believe in like… demons and stuff?” You toe at the ground with your right shoe, yellow converse. You look up and see a quickly fading flash of something on his face. His expression looked strained and very concerned for about half a second before you were thinking you really were crazy and imagined all of last night, your injury, and Dave’s expression because it was gone so quickly you just could not be sure.

“What do you mean dude?” He shrugs, voice its normal, arrogant tone. “I don’t think so. Never really did though. Why?” 

“Oh never mind then.” You wave your hand dismissively. Dave’s face hardens and turns serious.

“No. Tell me.”

“O-ok. Well uh, last night I was walking home and…” You hesitate. Did you really want to tell the whole story? If Dave even thought you were hurt he’d flip his shit all over the place and demand to see. Then he’d probably think you were crazy or drugged or he’d go all Winchester and try to hunt Karkat down. “Um, I met a demon, he was a dog at first but then he turned into a person and he’s actually pretty cool and we watched Con Air and he said it was shit but his taste in movies just sucks.” You start talking quickly and it doesn’t slow down when you see shock shimmer through Dave’s aviators and his mouth opens a bit. 

His cool-kid façade breaking down. You stop talking and wait for him to say something. He doesn’t and you’re scared he might think you’re on drugs. What if he tells Jade and Dad and oh god, why did you do this? Of course Dave wouldn’t believe you! You panic and Dave clears his throat loudly. A few people walking past turn to look before going on their way.

“You better get to work John.” Is all he says before turning on his heel and walking down to the crosswalk. He waits for the light to say he can cross and you lose your friend in the crowd. He’s crossing the street to go to work, a smoothie bar that serves great blueberry smoothies and you really don’t even know how they make them so good. 

Crestfallen, you walk into work with a few seconds to spare as you clock in.

 

==> Be Dave

You aren’t going to work, the opposite in fact. You stop by and feed them some lie about how your sister, Rose is going into labor and you need to be there for her. You guess you looked pretty shaken up because they accepted it without any problems even though you had never mentioned you’re sister to them or the fact that she was pregnant. She wasn’t but you didn’t think Rose would mind you using her name in this one instance.

John had met with a Hell Hound last night and where the fuck had you been? Wasting time with unimportant characters, that’s where. You were supposed to be protecting that idiot and he was running around socializing with demons. 

The worst part was that he fucking _knew_ he’d been talking to a demon and then just invited him over to watch some shitty movies. What the actual fuck?! You run a hand through your hair. You honestly didn’t even know there was a unit in the city, that’s what they were called right? Units? Hell Hounds hunted in packs under their Handlers. Ugh, you needed to talk to someone or you might just scream.

You stop by some café and lean against the wall outside, it being only ten in the morning the streets weren’t as busy as they could have so you only got a few strange looks. You close your eyes and let your senses stretch out as far as they can. You search for a particular presence and groan inwardly when you find it. A bar? This early in the morning? Can she honestly be serious? Well, it was Roxy after all.

Your eyes flick open and you adjust your shades and walk briskly in the opposite direction in which you’d been previously headed. It doesn’t take long for you to reach the bar and you frown upon entry.

It's dark and there is no one here save for a few guys playing pool in the corner and the blonde with her back to you, face deep in a martini. You cross the room and sit down in the stool beside her at the bar.

“Davy?” She slurs with a bright smile and black lips. Pink eye shadow lightly applied makes her whole face glow along with her vibrant eyes. It might be because she’s actually really beautiful despite the alcohol that has splashed onto her cheek or because of the pink halo that surrounds her person. The soft pink emanating in a way that only demons and angels can see.

“Roxy, what are you doing in a bar at ten o’clock in the morning?” You sigh, turning to face her.

“Hey! I’m not alone if thash what you’re tryin’ to shay.” She says, almost in perfect English. Roxy likes to drink so she’s pretty much mastered talking while intoxicated. “Got mah little Caliope wonderin’ around here somewhere. Did you know she’s never had a drink before?! Isn’t that just the cutest thing?!” Roxy coos and you grab a napkin to clean her cheek. She giggles as you do so.

“Caliope?” You raise an eyebrow in confusion. You haven’t talked to Roxy in about a month so you have no idea who her current charge is. 

“Yeah, she’s just a lil cutie. Her douchebag brother killed her in her sleep. He wasn’t quite right but Callie didn’t get him help beyond his meds ‘cause she thought she could do it herself. She just wanted to help her brother but it obviously didn’t work out that way. I’m just trying to make her happy so she can move on.” Roxy shrugs.

“Roxy, alcohol does not equal happy.” You roll your eyes behind you shades and she laughs. 

“I know but, you know, sometimes doing something you’ve never done before can just make you feel good. Callie’s just a cutie.”

“I heard.” You shove her teasingly and she slaps your shoulder with a giggle. She stops and looks forlorn, staring at her empty glass.

“Callie is really sweet but… she’s started to develop… feelings.” Roxy almost spits the last word.

“Roxy,” you begin but she’s waving her hand in a spastic manner for you to stop.

“I know, I know. I’m not gonna go breaking the rules anymore.” Roxy smiled despite herself and you feel for her. She obviously felt something for the Lost Soul. But that was against the rules. “Btw, why are you here? You don’t usually come find me just to chat. What’s up?” She asks, the bartender coming back around to give her a new drink and she graciously takes gulp of it before setting it down and turning her full attention back to you.

“Do you know of any Hell Hound units in the area?” You ask, taking your shades off.

“Sound’s important.” She sighs and takes another sip of her drink.

“It is.”

“Well sorry, I may be stuck down here but I don’t keep track of those kinds of things. Try someone on more ‘active’ duty.” She laughs without humor, her genuine concern turning to spite. Anger bubbles up but you push it down; it wasn’t her job anymore to keep track of demons. She’d broken the rules and been demoted. This was her punishment.

“Yeah whatever.” You snort, getting up from the bar. Roxy shakes her head and looks at you, eyes apologizing for her tone. You shrug. “Have fun with Caliope.” You wave and leave. 

On your way out, you see a small girl, about Roxy’s age but slight in figure and fairly short. Her skin is pale and her hair is strangely white. A green swirl pin kept her short, curled bangs from her face. She reacted to your last words and is staring at you with wide, hopeful eyes. You ignore her and go on your way.

 

\--

 

After a long bought of thinking, you could name only one person who you trusted and knew a lot about demonic affairs. “Keep your enemies closer.” She always said but you think she was actually friends with a few. No one questioned it but she did get a few dirty looks here and there from others of your kind. An angel associating with demons? Sick, right? You didn’t mind, you’ve seen her kill one of her demons “friends” before so you knew she was on your side. Loyal. Or just a law freak seeing as how the demon had broken several the night of its death. 

It was probably the latter.

You meet with Terezi, of course she was enjoying the cool weather in heaven so you had to make the inane trip up there, pure white wings with a few red-tinted feathers towards the inside folding back as you approach her. Terezi is lounging lazily on a white cloud, snuggled deeply in it. It wasn’t even a real cloud. It was a bunch of white fluffy blankets but you liked your first observation better. Her grey wings were tucked neatly under her, the teal-tinted inner feathers hidden by the grey outer ones.

“Hey there cool kid.” She cackles and looks at you through her red glasses. Rolling your eyes is pretty much pointless since she can’t see it behind your shades—she wouldn’t be able to see it even if your shades were missing—but that doesn’t stop you. Terezi lifts a dark hand and pats the space beside her on the pile of blankets. Her brown skin contrasting with the blankets.

“Not here to relax, Rezi, I need you take a look into a Hound unit in my city. There might be a problem.” You say upfront. You don’t have time for her bullshit right now, even if you did enjoy said bullshit because Terezi was pretty awesome. 

“Ha! If it’s so serious why haven’t gone to your superior? Those _are_ the rules.” She cackles again, but the expression she holds is nothing but serious.

“I said there ‘might’ be a problem, Terezi. No need to bother Jake for some silly suspicion. Just please. If there really is a problem I’ll tell Jake right away, before I even come to spill to you. How’s that?”

“What?! No way! I’m first to know! Jake and his stupid archangel ass can suck it. I helped find the info so if there’s a problem, I wanna be there to take some credit.” A wide grin crossing her face and you tilt your head in a exasperated smile.

“Yeah yeah Rezi, you’re first to know. As always. So you’ll do some digging for me? I want to know everything you can find about that unit.” You clarify and she sighs.

“What do you take me for Dave? Some slacker that will half-ass things left and right? Puh-lease Dave. Have a little more faith than that.” She laughs at her own joke and you roll your eyes again.

“Don’t get sassy with me Strider!”

“Bu-”

“Don’t even try; I can smell your annoyance.” Another wide grin and she flops back onto her “cloud”.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, so they are in a city, imagine like New York City. At least how they portray it in movies. I have no idea where they are exactly but that is basically the setting I'm trying to portray and failing at. I'm not good with settings *muffled sobbing*

**== > Be John**

The streets are pretty busy tonight and you resent the crowds. It’s uncomfortable to be around so many people, you aren’t used to it.

You hadn’t seen Karkat in about two days and you’re pretty upset about that. Sure he was kind of an ass and really crabby but that didn’t stop the fact that you actually liked him… a lot. 

When you’d woken up without Karkat you couldn’t help imagining what it’d be like to wake up with him beside you then proceeded to shake the thought from your head.

Lights from buildings and stores on the street and cars passing make it seem earlier that it really was even though it was nine o'clock at night. You just got off work and your side was in pretty good shape. It only hurt when you tried to run, which admittedly you didn’t often because fuck exercise. A shoulder bumps into you and an apology quickly follows. You smile a reassurance and walk on.

You keep walking until your heart stutters and you see the already familiar mess of hair and red eyes. Karkat is leaning against a building on the wide sidewalk, shrouded in shadow so it was hard to tell him apart especially because he wore such dark clothes.

“Karkat!” You exclaim and you see him jump and red eyes dart to your face. He goes tense and tries to go deeper into the darkness but you’re already beside him.

“Karkat, I’ve missed you! Why did you leave the other night?” You whine, then stumble to add more when you realize how that must have sounded. “I mean, not even a note to say goodbye or anything. Just left me hanging and everything!” Oh God you hope you don’t sound too needy. You’re just really happy to see him again. Even if he looks really annoyed to be near you.

“Ugh, I thought I’d gotten rid of you John. You’re like a fucking disease.” Karkat groans, eyes flickering back across the street, into a café. All you can see are a few patrons enjoying some delicious looking sandwiches and such.

“I’m fucking terminal. Oh my God, Karkat! Are you stalking someone?!” You exclaim and he covers your mouth with his hand as soon as the words come out and you giggle. He smells like coffee and you wonder if maybe he works in a coffee shop or just drinks a lot of the stuff. You inhale deeply and enjoy his scent and his nearness. 

Crap, that was creepy wasn’t it?

“Shut your damn mouth shitsponge! Fuck no, it’s Hound stuff. I’m kind of working right now and you'd know that if you’d bother to consider others first before making stupid accusations.” He hisses into your ear and you shiver at the feeling. You don’t know how he interprets it but he jerks away and looks down. “Sorry.” He apologies, he probably thinks he scared you.

“Oh no, it’s just, what do Hounds do anyway?” You ask, becoming curious about Karkat’s life. He hesitates and doesn’t answer, only turning around to face the café again. A man in khakis and a red polo is getting up and red eyes follow his movements.

“Not now John. I have work.” He mutters. You deflate at his response but tug on his sleeve.

“Karkat, when you’re done working… want to come by and watch some movies?” You ask quietly. What is wrong with you? Why do you want to hang out with a demon so much? You can’t blame everything on this little crush of yours—ok, maybe it’s not little at all but still! You never really had friends, people got annoyed with you too quickly. You were usually happy, you didn’t like be sad or serious. It only reminded you of the bad times, when you were younger. Staying happy kept the bad memories away. People thought it weird.

Karkat sighs and looks at you from the corner of his eyes, red almost glowing in the low light and his hard glare softens a bit.

“Sure… whatever. I’ll be done in about an hour. I’ll meet you at your place, ok? There had better be some good fucking movies too.” The last part comes out as a growl and you smile brightly. 

"Of course Karkat! Only the best!” You give one last tug on his sleeve and he turns to see your smile in full view. He smirks back, only slightly annoyed but he seems genuine enough. You wave goodbye and leave the Hound to his stalking exploits.

 

**== > Be Karkat**

You let out a small whine from within the dark alley in which you hide, concealed in the shadows. Bright red flames and eyes glowing brightly so you make an effort to tone that down. The fire at your heels diminishes to embers and tiny flickers and there isn’t really anything you can do about your eyes. The man in the red polo, the one whose soul will be yours in a matter of moments, takes the bait and looks down the alley. 

Another whine from you and he steps inside.

“Hello? Come here puppy.” He coos and you suppress a growl, you were trying to sound like an injured dog but it was still insulting. Fucking stupid humans, how could they be tricked so easily? Their fault of curiosity so flawlessly played upon to lure them into death. “Where are you?” He’s coming closer.

A few more feet. You whimper pathetically and it makes you sick to hear yourself sound like this. He’s close now, close enough for your powerful hind legs to pounce and topple him. So you do. A snarl rips from your throat and you leap at the man. In order to extract his soul, you had to kill him and you’d be lying to yourself if the act didn’t get your blood rushing and your heart pumping.

Your target collapses under your weight and you proceed to claw at his waist. Blood stains your paws and you snap your jaws closed around his shoulder. Shock has left him silent which you’re grateful for. Otherwise you’d have to go straight for his throat.

The metallic tang of blood fills your mouth and you bite down harder, flesh tearing and giving way to your fangs. He’s struggling beneath you, thrashing but no sound escapes save for a morbid gurgling as blood fills his throat and you end it. A quick snap and a crack of bone and a spray of blood and the soul is yours. 

The embers at your heels enlarge to flames once more and they absorb the soul for safe keeping. Quickly melting into the shadows you bound away, making your way downtown.

 

\--

 

Just seeing the sleek building annoys you. What the fuck was Dirk even thinking? What the fuck did he even do half the time with this shit? You walk through revolving doors into an air conditioned lobby where a receptionist smiles at you.

“Dirk is waiting for you in his office.” She beams and you wonder why she works here for the millionth time. She was human. What the hell was Dirk thinking? You supposed your unit was behaved enough to work with humans on a minimal bases but still. What the actual fuck did Dirk go where he needed a fucking receptionist?! The activities of your Handler were a mystery and his cryptic, bullshit answers didn’t help any.

The elevator had only one other person in it and you didn’t know who they were. It was as man, human, wearing a slate grey suit. He got off on the seventh floor. Your stop was the top floor, Dirk’s office. Fucking douche bag had only one room on the entire floor and it was his.

“It’s about time Vantas.” Dirk smirks behind those damn pointy shades from his desk, fingers laced together and his chin resting on the makeshift platform they formed.

“I’m serious Dirk.” You snarl, “Is this a fucking company or something?”

“Not even a hello? Rude. This building serves every purpose I need it to. No more no less.” Dirk get up from his seat and rounds the dark wood desk only to sit in a black leather chair.

“What the fuck ever douchecanoe. Here,” You present the soul collected and give it to him. After the whole exchange process you decide to get curious. “So why this guy?”

“One of Vriska’s clients. That’s all you need to know.” Dirk's mouth twitches up into a coy smile and you are done with his bullshit.

“Yeah yeah, make a deal, get a wish, negotiate a time, trade a soul. I get it. Unless you need anything else, I’ll be taking the rest of the night off.” You wait for Dirk to respond with a slight nod and dismissive wave before storming out.

Back in the lobby you run into another distraction. It’s been about an hour since you last talked to John and you start to think you’ll be late. You’d text him to warn him but you don’t have his number and you hate how much you want to fix that. Two Hounds stand in front of you, both taller than you. Everyone was taller than you, fuck. The female speaks first.

“Karkat, why didn’t you tell me you’d be here? I would have come earlier so we could talk properly.” Kanaya smiles next to Sollux, who’s looking as annoyed as ever. 

“Sorry Kanaya, I only came for work. I hate this place, I have no idea why you and the others like to hang out here for fun.” You sneer, rolling your eyes for effect.

“Becauthe dipthit, were would we go out when there are humanth all over? It’th not withe to be around them.” Sollux deadpans, obviously bored with your complaints.

“Whatever, I’m going.” You try to leave but Kanaya catches your arm, gently griping but with enough force to keep you still.

“Where? Karkat, you’ve been acting rather peculiar as of late and I’m beginning to grow concerned.” Kanaya’s jade green eyes glow with said emotion. Sollux is behind her, peeking over her taller form—he’s still taller than you though—and his face shows a similar expression. He was an ass but he was your friend.

“I’m just going to a… a friend’s?” You say, questioning your relationship with the human. You weren’t sure why he liked you anyway and you weren't sure why you submitted so easily to his whims. It really wasn't healthy.

“Pfft, you don’t have friendth KK. Exthept uth of courthe.” You can tell Sollux is rolling his eyes behind those stupid bi-colored shades of his.

“Well I’m just full of fucking surprises aren’t I? A fucking enigma wrapped in a rage induced riddle. You might never figure out the complex maze that is my troubled mind. So stop prying you lisping shitstain.” You say half-heartedly, no bite in your tone. You check the clock on the wall and unconsciously tap your foot. 

“Karkat, I’m very worried. Who is this friend of yours?” Kanaya frets and you sigh.

“His name is John.” The tap of heels and idle chat is all you hear because neither of your friends is talking.

“Thit, KK, ith he human?” Sollux finally says after he finds his voice. You don’t answer and Kanaya’s eyes widen.

“Kar-”

“What the fuck KK?! A human? Do you not fucking thee what ith wrong with thith? How about everything! Demonth and humanth are not compatible.” Sollux is seething and his fists shake at his sides. He’s only worried, you realize silently. Everything he says is true and you know it, it was the reason you left that night after John had fallen asleep. But there was a reason you couldn’t say no to his invitation. It was really stupid but you liked John.

“I tried to tell him that but he’s a fucking idi-“

“He fucking _knows_?!” Sollux is yelling now and few heads turn towards your odd little group. Kanaya places a hand on his shoulder but he remains stiff.

“Maybe we should all talk about this in private.” She suggests and normally you would agree to the sensible offer.

“I’m going to be late. You can chew me out some other time for my stupidity but not now.” And with that you leave the building and you can almost hear Sollux’s teeth grinding in frustration as he curses and rants to Kanaya.


	5. Chapter 5

**== > Be Dave**

“Alright Terezi, this had better be good.” You say, arms crossed and wings folded gently behind you. Terezi smirks and stretches out on her blankets. She’s in the same spot as last time and if you didn’t know her better you’d think she hadn’t moved since your last visit.

“Come on Dave, I wouldn’t have called you up here if it wasn’t good. Or would I? You never visit anymore. I miss my little cool kid.” You sigh and put a hand to your head in mock exasperation. She cackles and clears her throat.

“As it turns out, there is a unit currently in your area. It’s a fairly sized one with six Hounds. Maroon, Yellow, Jade, Indigo, Purple, and a mutant. Their Handler is a man by the name of Dirk. He is a Higher Demon. He has some sort of office building that also acts as a headquarters of sorts for the unit. No one really knows what else it does but… it does something. Dirk is a feared demon in many levels of Hell so he’s powerful but his unit is average. He often works with another demon. The type that trades wishes for souls. They’ve been around for about a year. Give or take a few months.” Terezi explained, she’s quite well informed. As always.

“That long?” You mutter, shifting your weight to the side.

“You never noticed before?” A sly smirk.

“Never really looked.” You shrug. It was your job to protect John, not keep tabs on every demon in the area at all times. You never thought you’d have to but now they were socializing with your charge you’d have to take an interest. It wasn’t like you could really stop them, the Hounds were only doing their jobs. Save for messing with your bro.

“Well I’d start. Now are you going to tell me what this is all for?” Terezi sits up in her blanket pile and looks at you with blind eyes. You smirk and your eyes sparkle behind your dark shades.

“Come on Rezi, if you’re so good at getting information then why don’t know that already?” You chuckle and she poofs out her cheeks like some sort of hamster and huffs in annoyance. You wave a quick goodbye and return to your apartment downtown. Lights from the tall buildings all around twinkle in through the shutters.

You close your eyes and now that you are looking, you can easily sense the presence of Hounds in the city. Most of them seem concentrated in one area downtown with you, probably where their headquarters or some shit was. Good, you’d be able to keep an eye on them. Two Hounds were out and away from the general area where the rest were, probably working.

You now do a search for John, a habit you’d fallen into the first few days of him becoming your charge. You sense his soul, rare and strange to you, in his apartment across town and about have a heart attack when you sense a Hound in dangerously close quarters. 

You don’t even remember going to your balcony but you're extending your wings and taking off from the landing. Your balcony was facing away from the city, into a calmer part of the downtown area so you could do emergency take offs like this. Your wings work in overdrive as you push yourself to John’s building.

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck_ , you chant in your head like a mantra. You can’t believe you fucked up this badly and what the _fuck_ was a Hound doing so close to John? That fucking idiot! He’d get himself killed. Demons and humans did not mix well.

Wings disappearing, you stumble ungracefully to John’s door and all but kick it down. The door swings open and your foot is still raised from where you kicked it in. John is on his couch, hair ruffled and eyes wide and a boy, Middle Eastern you’d guess, was snarling at him, an angry look in his eyes and mouth twitched up in annoyance. Red flares surrounded him, identifying him as a demon to your eyes. Humans could not see the flames that marked them as demons just like humans could not see an angel’s halo.  
The Hound sees your halo though and his growl is now turned to you. John finally takes notice to you and his probably broken door and smiles before you lunge and punch the Hound in the face.

“Dave?!” He squeals in surprise but you’re busy pummeling the snarling mess of Hound beneath you. Your fist connects again his jaw and he hisses in pain. The boy’s red eyes flare and claws scrabble painfully at your shoulders and back.

“Dave stop!” John screams, his voice tight with pain and confusion and holy shit, he was probably really freaked out and scared right now. You stop hitting the demon below you and look over at John. He’s closed the door and is quivering in a corner. Shit, you fucked up again. The Hound takes advantage of your distraction and punches you. Your jaw explodes with pain and you growl and pin his hands above his head.

“Karkat! You too!” He snaps and the Hound—Karkat—stops struggling and looks over to John. “W-what’s going on?!” He demands, his glasses falling down the bridge of his nose and he’s shaking. His blue eyes shine with a mixture of confusion and anger. “Seriously Dave! What the fuck? First my door and then my friend? What is wrong with you?”

“Jo-” You begin but he cuts you off.

“Get off of him!” His voice gets louder and you hesitate. You don’t trust this Karkat guy but John’s really pissed and listening to him sounds like the best course of action right now for lack of a better plan. You let go of the Hound’s wrists and get off of him. He sits up and hisses. John scolds him quickly, and Karkat’s head goes down in shame but he still glares at you. What the fuck? Did John fucking _domesticate_ a Hound?

“Alright Dave, explain to me why you’re going around and knocking down people’s doors. I rent this place dude, you’re gonna pay to get that fixed too! Then tell me why you felt the need to beat up my friend.” John leans against the wall, his anger fading into annoyance. He still looks pissed but his tone is losing its harsh bite by the seconds.

“He didn’t beat me up, John!” Comes the growled protest from behind you. John shoots a glare at Karkat and you don’t hear any more from him. John turns his hard glare back to you and waits. Yu don’t really know how to answer these questions. When you’d attacked Karkat, you’d thought he was about to hurt John but that was apparently not the case.  
You are just about to give a completely plausible excuse for everything when a gruff voice speaks up from behind you.

“Fucking Angels think they can do whatever the fuck they want. You know this douchecanoe, John?” The Hound mumbles, voice turning into a sneer at the end. Oh hell no, it didn’t even matter anymore what John said, you might just kill this guy because he was an unbelievable asshole.

Because it’s John that you are talking to, it takes him a moment for the comment to take full effect.

“Karkat, don’t be an ass. Dave’s my best friend even if he is a douche so… wait. Angel?” John’s eyes flicker to you and he stares. He’s waiting for an answer. You sigh.

“You know ‘ _Karkat_ ’, we are supposed to remain inconspicuous. Don’t drag other people down with you just because your cover got blown.” You don’t answer John, you’ve been keeping this from your charge since he was eight, it went against you to admit it. But you didn’t deny it. John caught that.

“Hold up,” John says, cutting of Karkat from what probably would have been a very long-winded rant. “So… you attacked Karkat because he was a demon? But how did you know?” Leave it to John Egbert to not freak out about something like this. There had to be something wrong with him.

“I can tell because he has an aura around him, flickers of flames. All demons have them but humans can’t see. And I didn’t attack him because he’s a demon, I thought he was going to hurt you.” You explain calmly. You cross your arms and walk over to a wall and lean against it. You survey the room and see a few DVD cases scattered around and a half-eaten bowl of popcorn on the couch. 

“Oh, well your too late for that.” John laughs lightly, anger starting to fade because he’s an idiot and never takes anything seriously for too long. The comment does not escape you and you stiffen.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You growl and John freezes. He looks at Karkat who his slapping his forehead in exasperation.

“Don’t worry Dave!” John is waving his hands sporadically in front of his chest as if trying to deter you from overreacting. You decide to hear him out before letting your fists fly. “It was an honest accident Dave, remember that. And it doesn’t even hurt anymore so it’s ok?” John’s eyes are pleading and you find all the fight to be draining out of you. Fuck him and those puppy dog eyes.

“What. Did. He. Do?” You say slowly.

“It’s just a scratch and then he patched it up for me. Karkat’s nice. He wouldn’t hurt me. On purpose that is but he hasn’t hurt me since! Isn’t that right Karkat?” John looks to the dark skinned boy who is just glaring at the both of you.

“John, you are the single most idiotic waste of space I know. And that is fucking saying something when you take into consideration the assholes on my unit. I wouldn’t even try to waste my time hurting your fragile human body.” Karkat growls but there is no heat behind it. John laughs and gestures to Karkat.

“See? A total sweetheart.”

“Of course he is.” You say without humor.

“Fuck off bird-brain.” Karkat flicks you off.

“Mutt.”

“Hey hey hey! Come on guys! Let’s try to be civilized?” John smiles placatingly and it works on both of you. Karkat lowers his offending finger and sits on the couch with a small plop and you relax against the wall. John looks pleased with himself and you wonder if the way he can calm people down like this due to his… special circumstances.

“Hey Dave, can I ask you a few questions? Karkat never told me there were angels when I asked him about stuff so I’m really curious!” John sits comfortably beside Karkat and brings his knees up to his chin. The two boys’ shoulders are almost touching and you don’t know for sure how you feel about that. 

Attention refocused on John, you shrug and his smile brightens, showcasing his front teeth that used get him teased all through school.

“Great! So first question, what’s being an Angel like?” 

“It’s okay I guess. It’s basically just a job only with more… divine assignments. Sure beats organizing papers or taking orders at fast food joints. John giggles at this and Karkat rolls his eyes.

“So why did you lie to me when I asked if you believed in demons and stuff the other day?” 

“Excuse me for not wanting to expose myself Egbert. You are the only human that knows. You aren’t even really supposed to know. There are a lot of rules to this kind of thing John. But I think since you’re my charge it’s ok.” You begin talking more to yourself than to John. Breaking rules got people into big trouble, like what happened with Roxy. Maybe since your relationship with John was different it was ok that he knew.

“I’m you’re charge? What does that mean?” John tilts his head to the side and he moves to sit in a proper position on the couch, feet touching the ground and everything.

“It means it’s my job to watch over you. Kinda like a guardian angel I guess. I’m just supposed to make sure you don’t get hurt.” You shrug.

“Does everyone have an angel like you? Watching over them?” John’s eyes sparkle at the thought and you shake your head.

“No, only special cases.”

“Then what’s special about John?” The voice that speaks is Karkat’s and it irritates you that he asked that question.

“Can’t answer that.” You growl. Karkat glares back at you.

“Aww, come on Daaave! Tell me!” John whines and you almost break at the face he’s making. Pouting lips and puffed out cheeks. How could a grown man make such a face and still have it work? Dave couldn’t make such a childish expression look good even for ironic purposes.

“No can do Egderp. That is classified info.” You cross your arms to form an “X” in front of your chest and he frowns. Oh well.

“Fine.” John huffs like a spoiled child and you can’t help the fond smirk that comes to you. He may be an idiot but he was your best friend. John continued to ask questions and with minimal interruptions from the mutt, you answered most of them. Some you couldn’t, it’d be against the rules. 

John insists you stay for a movie before you leave and agree. Karkat doesn’t seem to like the idea and you can’t say you like the idea of leaving John with him too much. But John doesn’t seem to care and Karkat hasn’t made you think that he’d hurt him so he might be safe with the Hound. For now. Besides, John seemed to have some sort of control over him, a pout and whine would shut the Hound up—save for a few muttered curses and insults. You begin to wonder again if it may have something to do with John’s circumstances. 

You remember to ask Jake next time you’re forced to come in contact with him.

When John pulls out Con Air, you and Karkat finally agree on something and moan. John frowns and puts it away, complaining in your taste in movies. Karkat makes a similar argument. You end up watching Men in Black and Karkat seems entranced in the movie whenever Will Smith makes an appearance so he’s quiet through the whole movie. Thank God.


	6. Chapter 6

**== > Be John**

It is around one in the morning and Dave left not too long ago, reluctant to actually leave you alone with Karkat. He said he’d call some people and have your door fixed tomorrow. You’re glad the damage isn’t too bad, it just won’t lock anymore and has a tough time staying closed. Like the innovative genius you claim to be, you shove a box in front of the door when Dave leaves, ensuring it stays closed all night.

You are now sitting on the couch while Karkat is flicking through Netflix, looking for a movie to watch. Since the last time you watched movies together you had picked them all, you let Karkat pick this one. He chose Titanic and you groan inwardly. At first, you hadn’t been all that tired, riled up from when Dave came bursting in but halfway through you begin to feel a bit tired. You manage to stay awake though and you admit it really is sad when Jack dies in the ocean. But you aren’t nearly as broken up about it as Karkat seems to be.

Karkat’s shoulders bounce ever so slightly and you look up to see tears in his eyes and holy shit, he looked really cute like that. His face was rounded with a softness you would not normally associate with Karkat and his large, red eyes are wet and his eyebrows are furrowed like he’s going on with some rant inside his head. Heck, he might be.

Karkat hasn’t said a word throughout the entire movie save for twice when he had to tell you to shut up with your “bullshit commentary”. He doesn’t notice you looking at him; he’s too entranced by the movie. A yawn escapes your mouth at the same time as a tear does his eye and you cuddle close to the demon in a mixture of comfort and drowsiness.  
Karkat stiffens, feeling your weight now on his side, your head resting peacefully on his shoulder and your sides and hips touching. You smile when he doesn’t move away. 

The movie ends and he yawns too, looking down at you.

“Tired?” He asks, you can tell he tried to sound teasing but his voice was too soft to pull it off. You nod and smile into his shoulder and inhale deeply. He always smelled like coffee; however, instead of waking you up it only made you relax further into his side.

“Karkat?” You ask, the apartment is quiet and even outside seems to be asleep and Karkat doesn’t say anything but you know you have his attention. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did.” Laughter bubbles up when you hear his response.

“I’m being serious.” You yawn.

“Okay, sure.”

“It may sound stupid and that may be because I’m stupid but…” You hesitate. You want to tell him, but what if he rejects you? He’s being pretty affectionate right and hadn’t even called you any names so that was a good sign, right?

“Get on with it chute-stuffer.” Oh, well, never mind about the name calling thing.You suppress a giggle because what did that even mean? 

“I really like you Karkat.” It comes out as a whisper and you snuggle closer, wrapping your arms around his waist in case he decided to pull away. He didn’t. He’s still and surprisingly silent. Was that good? It sounded bad. What was he thinking about?

You expect him to reject you, push you away and say you were an idiot. Say that he was a demon and you were suicidal to even think of liking him. What you didn’t expect was for him to press a soft kiss to your forehead. Red stains warm your cheeks and you’re glad he can’t see your face right now because oh god would that be embarrassing!  
Karkat’s lips stay on your forehead and you feel him smile. It doesn’t feel like a smirk but a genuine smile and you wish you could see it because you’ve never seen him smile for real. You hope you’ll get the chance.

 

\--

 

You wake up in your bed again, alone. You roll over and despite the fact that you already know you will find nothing; you search for another warm body. Sitting up, disappointed, you fumble for the glasses you know are on the nightstand beside your bed because that is where Karkat put them last time this happened. You touch a piece of paper before finding your glasses.

Once your glasses are set in place you look at the note and smile brightly when you read it:

**Dear asshole,  
Since you said you like me or whatever, I guess I should come clean and say I like you too. It’s probably not a good idea but if we’re going to do this “relationship” thing right, I’m taking the fucking lead. As a master of romance of course. So congratu-fucking-lations. I am going to take you out on a proper date tomorrow for your birthday. So be ready by eight and wear something nice. I swear if I come by and you are wearing that fucking Ghost Buster’s shirt you’re infatuated with, I will forcibly dress you.**

You giggle and notice a messily scrawled sequence of digits that you register as a phone number. You find your phone and quickly send the number a quick text.

 

_I’d love to Karkat :)_

 

\--

 

The next day, you wake up and make yourself breakfast. Some guys came by yesterday and fixed your door as promised and you smile. Your phone rings and you dive for it, hoping it’s Karkat. It isn’t and you would be disappointed but you could never be disappointed by this person. You answer it and give a happy hello.

“Hey Dad!”

“Morning son, I just called to wish you a happy birthday. I’m very proud of you.” You smile wider because it always made you happy to know that. The two of you chat and catch up for a while. You don’t talk all that often, not because you don’t like to but because you’re both busy. But he always, without fail, calls on your birthday. Today you are twenty one and it is the eleventh anniversary of the day you and your dad almost died.

You still have faint scars on your legs from where it had been broken in many places and there is a long scar going down your spine and little scratches peppered here and there.  
It had been a car accident, you don’t know what had happened but suddenly the car had gone out of control and you’d crashed. Your dad had gone through the windshield but you had in the back seat. You don’t remember much about the accident but you do remember that your father had been in a serious coma for three days before waking up and shocking the doctors by his sudden recovery.

You and your dad were really close, and had only gotten closer after the accident. He worked really hard when you were a child to provide for you, more emotionally that financially. About a month before the accident, your mother had been declared dead. She’d been missing for a few months, just up and disappeared. There was no note and she didn’t take anything, not even her car, just disappeared one night and no one ever saw her again.

You’d been depressed when they declared her dead but when your dad woke up from the coma you didn’t want to be sad anymore. That’s why you were like you were now; you hated to be sad because it reminded you of all the shit you had to be sad about.

 

\--

 

You spend the day with Dave and Jade, shopping and you even go to the movies with them. It’s fun until Dave slings his arm around you and buys you a drink at a bar he’s dragged you to. Actually, it’s still fun even after that. You meet a really pretty blonde girl that Dave knows and she looks kinda sad so you try to cheer her up. You think you’re doing a good job because she keeps calling you cute and giving you drunken kisses on the cheek. 

You don’t mind, the kisses are very platonic but Jade keeps teasing you about it. You haven’t told her about Karkat yet. You spend the rest of the afternoon in the bar with your friends and the blonde, Roxy is her name. You have one drink even though Dave says since your legal now you should get sloppy drunk like normal people but you aren’t a big fan of the taste of alcohol. Dave says you’re a wuss and you laugh.

At six thirty, you tell them you’ve gotta go. Jade whines and asks why. You wave goodbye as you head out the door and call out your answer.

“I have a date!”

Once you get back home, you scrounge through your closet for something to wear and take another shower. You try to style your hair but it doesn’t work out to well. It’s fifteen minutes to eight o’clock and you look in the mirror, checking yourself over to make sure everything is perfect. You had been tempted to put on your Ghost Buster’s shirt, just to piss Karkat off but decided against it.

You’re wearing black skinny jeans and a white button down with a red scarf tied fashionably around your neck. You practice making seductive faces in the mirror until there is a knock at your door and you run to answer it.

When Karkat sees you, his face falls into an unimpressed grimace. You are leaning against the door jam, propped up on your elbow, your free hand shaped like a gun and pointed at him. Your eyebrows wiggle up and down in only the most seductive way possible. You are a sex god.

Karkat’s sight must be impaired because he groans.

“I fucking knew this was a bad idea.” He turns to leave and you fumble to grab the sleeve of his jacket. He’s wearing a grey, V-neck shirt and nice black jeans that curve around his hips and crap, you need to look away from his lower half and focus more on the upper half.  
“Let’s just go before I regret this even more.” He sighs but he grabs your hand and holds it while walking to his car. You gasp at the sight of it. Its black sports car and it looks _really_ expensive.

“I didn’t you had a car! Let alone one like this.” You gawk and he chuckles.

“I don’t. It’s my Handler’s. I barrowed it.” He open’s your door and you slide in. 

“Does he know you barrowed it?” You ask once Karkat is seated in the Driver’s seat.

“Don’t worry John, I told his receptionist.”

“Receptionist? What does you Handler do?” John asks, confused. Handlers were also demons if he remembered correctly. Karkat starts up the car and it purrs to life, he turns his head to you and archs up an eyebrow and smirks.

“I don’t even fucking know.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is an incredibly short chapter because I felt like it.

**== > Be Sollux**

You are Sollux Captor and Dirk just called you into his office along with Gamzee. Gamzee seems out of it like usual but you ignore it. How could Karkat stand to be around the giant juggalo as much as he was? You sigh and step out of the elevator onto the top floor. Dirk is sitting in a black, leather chair across from a coffee table and similar leather couch. 

Dirk used the entire floor are his office though the top floor was considerably smaller than the rest, it was still a hell of a lot of space. The walls weren't even walls, you were surrounded on all four sides by glass windows save for the one blind spot caused by the elevator. Dirk's office basically looked like some fancy lounge and it made sense because that's all you ever saw him do in it.

“You sure like to take your time.” Dirk raises an eyebrow in amusement, crossing his legs.

“I couldn’t find GZ,” you explain, jerking your thumb over your shoulder to gesture to the Hound behind you. He gives a short honk. “Why’d you call uth in?”

“I have a very important job for you. The both of you. I need someone smart enough to handle it and someone strong enough. This one is… special.” Dirk is smirking now, leaving you thoroughly confused.

“What are you talking about Thrider?” You ask, eyebrows furrowing in lack of trust.

“Apparently, our little Vriska has been hard at work even when she was just a wee little thing.” Dirk stands and goes to his desk, picking up a piece of paper. He doesn’t turn around. “There was a boy, with a very special soul. She didn’t know it at the time but it has recently come to our attention. He is half Angel.” Dirk turns and his smile is wide. It’s kind of creepy.

“What do you mean, ‘half angel’? Like… half human too?” Saying that you are shocked would be an understatement when Dirk nods. That was one of the biggest rules for angels. No fraternizing with the human populace. That was a huge no-no for the feather-brained assholes. For an Angel to have gotten far enough to actually have a child… it was unheard of.

Demons had no such rule, seeing as how some demons thrived off relations with humans like succubae.

“Tho why do you need the both of uth for one target?” You shrug.

“Primarily to be cautious, I personally have never dealt with anything like this because to be honest, I don’t think there are many half Angels running around. Not like I can ask anyone either. I’m sure you know how… _competitive_ demons can be when something of interest is dropped into the playing field. I’d rather go into this prepared.” Dirk comes closer, the sheet of paper in his hand. It holds the face of your target. 

You examine the boy you see, he looks about average, nothing extraordinarily special except for maybe the color of his eyes. So bright and lively. Other than that, he looks like an idiot with a lopsided grin.

“I want him tonight. Don’t fuck this up.” Dirk frowns in all seriousness, the playful, calculating tone gone.

“Thure, whatever. GZ, letth go.” You grab the paper and head towards the elevator. Gamzee follows you absently, he presses the button to bring you to the bottom floor and once inside, you take a moment to truly examine the paper. 

“So who are we all up and going to motherfuckin’ get?” Gamzee bends down until his head is level with yours.

“Thome guy named John.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm just gonna leave this here.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the chapter in which excrement begins to descend due to a plot twist

**== > Be Karkat**

You are walking in the park, the same one where you first the idiot human whose hand is now tightly grasped in yours. It’s not the same part, it was a big park and you would be lost if not for your demonic sense of direction. More perks to being a Hound.

You had taken John to a nice restaurant and to your surprise, he’d kept his fuck ups to a minimum of twice: spilling his drink all over your waitress and dropping his cellphone on the pavement, breaking it. Overall though, the date had gone pretty well. You’d been smiling almost nonstop since you left the restaurant. You can’t remember the last time you were this happy and John notices.

“Karkat?” He turns a his head to face you but doesn’t stop walking.

“Yeah, fuckass?” You smirk and nudge him playfully. When did you become playful? John giggles.

“I really like it when you smile.” His own, lopsided smile greets you and the pressure on your hand increases. Your heart swells and you can’t stop the smile that blossoms onto your own face. No sarcasm or ulterior motives, just genuine happiness.

You’re so wrapped up in John you almost miss the two figures standing on the path ahead of you. One is abnormally tall and the other is only slightly taller than you. You don’t have to see their faces to know who they are. You see the purple and yellow flickers that surround them.

“Gamzee? Sollux? What are you two doing here?” You ask, turning away from John, the remnants of smile still on your face. Sollux seems put off by the expression and his scowl deepens. Gamzee on the other hand honks happily.

“What’s up Karbro? You look like a motherfucking bag of miracles.” Gamzee teases, pointing to his cheeks, now spread in a wide smile, to indicate your facial expression. You huff good naturedly. Sollux remains silent.

“Karkat, are these your friends?” John reclaims your attention with a tug on your shared hands. Sollux stares at the connection but you cannot read his expression behind those glasses and that scowl. 

“More like idiots I’m forced to socialize with. They’re on my unit… and I guess I’d consider them friends.” Gamzee seemed elated by that and lets out a series of honks. Sollux remains silent. John and Gamzee talk excitedly, well, John talks excitedly while Gamzee responds with lax, amused responses. You and Sollux don't join in, you trying to figure out what is wrong with him and him avoiding looking at you at all costs.

“What are you two doing here anyway?” You finally ask, directing the question at Sollux. He looks up at you, still scowling but there is something else there too.

“I’m thorry KK.” He sighs and Gamzee lays a hand on the yellow Hound’s shoulder.

“We’re here on business.” Gamzee says calmly, and you notice that he refrains from using any of his usual vocabulary. He is serious and his purple eyes glow hungrily in your direction. No, not yours… but…

Your grip on John’s hand tightens until you remember to be weary of your far sharper nails and he looks at you but you are staring at Sollux and Gamzee. This… could not be happening right now. Why John? You step around the confused human and stand in front of him, not letting go of his hand. Protective.

_Possessive._

Sollux sighs and takes a step forward and a deep growl rips through your throat. John flinches and Sollux stops. His face is hard and devoid of emotion.

“KK, thtep athide.” His voice is cold and empty.

“Fuck off Captor!” You snarl and John is gripping your hand back now, just as hard. He’s confused, you can tell. He’s also scared, you can smell the fear.

“KK! Move. You know we have to do thith. It’th our job.” Sollux yells, fists clenching at his sides. Gamzee is standing, relaxed, beside him, still looking at John. No, fuck this. You turn on your heel and run, dragging John with you, as close as possible without him tripping over your feet.

They don’t follow you. Fuck, they just stand back and let you run. They are trying to give you a moment alone. To say goodbye. They know they can catch up to you, at least Gamzee can. He was the faster than you by a long shot, with way more endurance. 

John is panting behind you and he’s tense.

“Ka-Karkat!” He whines, voice tight with pain and fuck, you remember his side. It must still hurt. You slow down and find yourself in an unknown part of the park. Good, you knew this place better than anyone else on your unit, if you were unsure of where you were, it would take longer for them to find you. You hope. In vain of course. They could just follow your scent or sense for your presence.

Once you stop, John leans onto you for support and you hold him close to you. He catches his breath.

“I-I’m ok. Just kinda hurts is all... Why are we running Karkat?” John tries to pull away so he can look at you but you hold on tighter and bury your face into his shoulder. John seems worried and starts to rub your back in a calming effort. It works for the most part and you regain the ability to speak.

“John, I’m going to say this once so listen because we don’t have much time. I never told you what a Hound’s job was exactly but we are in charge to taking souls to our Handlers. Since we’re demons I expect you to know where these souls go. But in order to get the souls, we have to kill our targets first.” You speak quickly and once you finish, you feel John stiffen in your hold and you’re scared he might pull away. But he doesn’t. “Their next target is _you_ John.” You’re surprised to find that it is you who pulls away first. You stare into his eyes, so impossibly blue and alight with fear. As they rightfully should be. The one time he acts like any normal human would… and it’s the worst possible scenario. 

“Bu-” You stop him and grab his hands and bring them up to your face.

“John, run. Call for Dave. You’re his charge, if you call for him loud enough in your mind he should be able to hear it. Don’t ask questions. Just please run. I’ll hold them off. John, I promise I won’t let them hurt you.” You take his hands and press a kiss to the pads of his fingers before dropping them and shoving him away.

“But Karkat…” John looks at you with such a sad expression, you can’t look. He sounds like he wants to say something but he needs to go. Right now.

“Go John.” You snap. “Now!” He flinches at your tone but nods and takes off, awkwardly at first but he sets into a comfortable rhythm. _‘Not fast enough’_ , you sigh and turn back towards the path opposite of where John took off. It doesn’t take long for Sollux and Gamzee to appear. 

Both in Hound form. Gamzee as big, if not bigger than a wolf with large plumes of purple flames coming from his heels. He was so strong and there Sollux was, twin tails lashing back and forth. His multicolored eyes glare at you as you slip into Hound form yourself. You are smaller than the both of them, but you have more drive. You can hold them off, you decide. You _will_ hold them off.

You growl and Sollux seems to frown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahahaha, I'm going on vacation for a while. Know what that means? Have fun with this for about two weeks before the next update! MWAHAHAHA!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I meant to throw you guys a bone and update earlier but I ended up packing the wrong charger for my laptop and I had like 5% battery. not enough to edit and post it. so without further adieu, here is the chapter you've been waiting for!

**== > Be Sollux**

“KK.” He is smaller than you and Gamzee, his tail short and lashing angrily behind him. His bright red flames so unnatural and mutated, it sparks a twinge on disgust, a reaction that has been bred into most Hounds. You get over that feeling quite easily when the fierce determination on your friend’s face reminds you he is in fact your friend and is not worthy of such an emotion as disgust. You really don’t want to do this.

Karkat snarls in response, a deep, guttural sound that rumbles in his chest. His fur is standing on end and his eyes glow menacingly. Gamzee is beside you and he is in a similar state, the clown always seemed to lose his lax nature when he was in Hound form.

“KK.” You repeat with a low whine. “Thith ith your latht warning. Let uth through. You can’t save him.” You try to keep this professional, let no emotion slip into your actions. That was how you worked. Karkat of course, does not agree with your sensible warning and snarls again. He says nothing, only makes threatening noises.

The park is quiet sans the low rumble from Karkat. Darkness has spread easily over the heavily forested area where you three bristle with thick tension. Light from the moon casts a glow that clashes with the light emitting from the red, yellow, and purple flames. A tawny paw takes a step forward and you shift your weight with the movement. You take another step and look Karkat in the eye. You hope the apology crosses over to him because the look is gone in a second as one of your tails flicks Gamzee’s flank and he takes the signal to attack. 

He bounces off to the right and you take to the left. Karkat stands still for a brief second, thinking of his next move and bounds out of the way just in time to dodge your jaws clamping down where his shoulder was a second before. Unfortunately for him, he is not quick enough to escape Gamzee. 

The purple-flamed Hound shoves his large head into the soft expanse of chest between Karkat’s front legs. The faint sound of breath whooshing hits your ears as Karkat stumbles backwards, trying to reclaim the oxygen that had just abandoned his lungs. You take advantage of his lapse in attention to you and score your claws down his right flank. Gamzee clamps his jaws down at the base of his tail.

A short whine, high pitched and pathetic, escapes Karkat as he whips around to slash at Gamzee and you. His claws barely graze you because of distance but his rips into the side of Gamzee’s face. Three long stripes cross over his right eye and purple blood oozes from the marks. A sharp howl of pain pierces the night and the larger Hound rears back.   
Red eyes turn to you and you barrel forwards, snapping and clawing. Karkat takes the most damage, leaving the short scuffle with a long gash on his cheek and few bite marks on his front legs but you’ve been dealt with an aching shoulder where all of Karkat’s weight shoved you to the ground. Stiff now, you watch as Gamzee takes over again, trying to squelch the rising rage from being injured. It is instinct to lash out when hurt, and the higher up the color of your flames, the more that rage consumes you. It’s a way to survive, to protect yourself upon injury. Gamzee now struggles to not handle his friend too roughly. 

Of course Gamzee’s self-control has never been admirable. The stench of blood fills the pathway and the surrounding area. Gamzee is backing away again, his nose bleeding and his ears torn freshly from Karkat’s last swipe. 

You decide to finish this.

Karkat is breathing hard, probably tired and weak from his bought with Gamzee. Perfect for you. You bite down on his shoulder, the same one that is already injured and he buckles at the pain. You pin him to the ground and he struggles before you growl. His body tenses under you at the dark sound. A moment later he sags, all fight leaving his bloodied body. Most of his fur, already dark with the grey and black, looks strange with the mixture of drying blood and the bright red still coming from open wounds.

You take a moment, knowing he won’t come up for a fight now, and notice Gamzee is gone. Probably going after the John human. Gamzee will catch up easily enough. He won’t have a chance. A short whine drags your attention back down to your friend. You really do feel bad about this but this was your job. It was your only reason for existing, to take the souls of the damned.

Karkat is now trembling softly beneath you, looking smaller than usual and his eyes shine with moisture and sadness.

Shit.

Karkat was really… broken up about this. Normally, he’d bitch and groan after losing one you’re your playful strifes but… you know this isn’t about losing to you. Karkat is sad about losing John. Fuck, what did that human do to him? First he was smiling like some idiot in one of his stupid romcoms and now he was… was he crying? Dammit you don’t even know.

A triumphant howl sounds in the distance. Its familiar. 

It’s Gamzee. 

He found John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I laughed like a cliché evil villain when I wrote the end of this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so im sorry this took so long. bluh.

**A few minutes in the past, but not many**

**== > Be John**

The sound of your shoes and ragged breathing are the only sounds in the park. Every bird or gust of wind has seemed to still, leaving you in a deathly quiet. Well, you’re exaggerating. You can’t really claim to be surrounded by quiet when your mind is a mess of screaming.

Mostly Dave’s name. You keep calling out to him like Karkat said. You try to tell him what is going on and that he needs to get his albino ass down here right now because you were really scared and Karkat might be hurt and oh god you didn’t know what to do because why would Karkat’s friends want your soul?!

You’re getting pretty tired, the dull pain in your side coupled with the fact that you were never really athletic in the first place aren’t making things any easier for you right now. Also throw in the fact that you were as clumsy as a grade A drunk on a good day and you have thoroughly explained to yourself why you are now laying on the ground. Stupid damn untied show laces, Dave would be proud of the irony. Or maybe not, since your life kind of hung in the balance or something like that. Dave and his affinity with irony was pretty confusing.

You get to your feet and immediately realize running isn’t much of an option anymore. You’ve scraped a hole in your jeans—fuck! You really liked this pair—and saw bright red staining the fabric around the freshly made hole. Your side is throbbing dully and you’re gasping for breath. You guess P.E was a pretty important class after all.

A high pitched howl rings in the distance. No wait, never mind. It’s actually pretty close to you and the underbrush to your left has begun to glow purple. Shit. You take a step backwards, as if that would put enough distance between you and your new problem. A burst of flames rise high up and out walks Gamzee, sporting a gruesome scar over the right side of his face. Dried blood mars his clownish face paint and is that purple? Was his blood fucking purple?! What the fuck?

Freaking out, that is exactly what you aren’t supposed to be doing right now. You’re failing pretty badly. You wish you could be like Dave and act all stoic and calm but even if you tried, your trembling gives you away. Gamzee smiles lazily and shakes out his hair like a dog would.

“Hey Johnbro, sorry about all this motherfucking chasing we have to all up and do. But you know, you gotta do what you gotta motherfucking do. Am I right, brother?” Gamzee puts his hands in his pockets and leisurely takes a step forward.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” You squeak. _Dave? DAVE! Oh god Dave, please help!_ Your head explodes again with frantic cries and oh god it isn’t working! Stall, you need to stall. “Where is Karkat?”

Gamzee stops his slow advance and a wide smile crosses his face.

“Solbro took care of that cute little motherfucker. Put up a good fucking fight too.” Gamzee smiles fondly and it only fills you with dread. Karkat? What did they do to Karkat?! The trembling has come back and you can’t speak anymore. These weren’t Karkat’s _friends_ , friend and enemy might as well mean the same thing to these two for how they acted.

“Don’t worry brother, I’ll make this all up and motherfucking quick.” Gamzee is still a few yards away from you but his breaks into a run, coming for you. Your body tenses and your eyes clamp shut. You wait for it.

To your surprise, it never comes. The only thing you feel is the soft touch of something and you hear the expulsion of breath and something falling to the ground. You manage an eye open to see what is going on.

The soft touch you felt, it turns out, was a snow white feather with a red tinted tip. It sits lightly on your shoulder, still barely tickling your neck. The sound of air escaping lungs was Gamzee, being shoved in his chest and slumping to the ground. 

Dave stands in front of you, wings sprouted from his back and feathers ruffled. He’s panting and his mouth is moving. He’s talking. It takes a long moment before you realize it is you he is talking to.

“-fucks sake Egbert! What is going on?!” Dave shouts. Gamzee staggers to his feet but makes no attempt to move from his spot.

“T-They want my soul? I don’t know!” You struggle, your tongue feels too thick for your mouth and you’re still trembling. Gamzee coughs for attention and Dave growls as his head whips around to face him.

“Back off Angel, I’m doing my job. It’s against the rules to interfere.” He spits and the lax clown you talked with earlier has all but disappeared. His features are twisted, face bloodied and his ear is torn, letting a thin stream or purple shaded blood to trail down his neck.

“And I’m doing MY job. Like hell I’m going to let you put your filthy PAWS on my charge.” Dave’s voice is calm and deadly; his shades are hiding his eyes and even if they weren’t you wouldn’t be able to see with his back to you. But you do know they are alight with anger.

“Looks like we have a motherfucking problem, then.” Gamzee is sneering now and Dave’s body goes rigid. It almost happens to quickly but suddenly you are on the ground and Dave is beneath Gamzee, fighting off the murderous clown’s punches.

No no no. It’s like a mantra inside your head. What is even going on? Why is this happening? Why are your friends getting hurt and you can’t do anything.  
A hand touches your shoulder, light and calming. A voice clears its throat off to your right and Gamzee stops.

“Well this seems to be a bit of a complication.” Bright blue eyes soon find the voice’s owner, a tall, slender man with spikey blond hair and pointed shades. Stupid pointy shades, you note. It clashes with the professional aura he gives off with his posture and pure black suit. Hands on his hips and head cocked in amused annoyance, he’s smiling at you. No, not at you, at the person whose hand still claims your shoulder. You look up.

A tanned man with black, swooping hair and green, wire rimmed glasses stares down the blonde. His eyes spark with a fond rivalry but there is something behind that. Confusion. You notice the man has tawny wings with dark green feathers lining the inside. He’s an angel. 

“So it seems.” Says the angel. Dave and Gamzee separate. Dave instantly turns to the angel behind you, his lip split and his face flushed with anger.

“Jake, what the fuck is going on?” He snaps. Jake says nothing to Dave, instead his grip on your shoulder tightens and you look up at him again. He smiles down warmly.

“Don’t worry boy, we’ll have this all sorted out in a jiffy.” You nod dumbly, not knowing what else to do. Jake looks up at the blonde and his eyebrows furrow. Dave looks like he’s trying not to throw a hissy fit for being ignored. “Dirk, what is the meaning for this?”

“Jake,” Dirk smirks wider and strides forward until a glare from Jake stops him. “So much for a hello. I’m merely filling a quota Jake. It’s my job.” Dirk shrugs. It finally clicks that this must be Karkat’s Handler. A Higher Demon.

“And what does this human have to do with your quota?” Jake grinds out, irritation clear in his voice. This only seems to amuse the demon more.

“Gamzee, go fetch Vriska so we can settle this. Get Sollux while you’re at it.” Dirk flicks his hand in an obscure gesture and Gamzee growls at Dave once before jogging away. A bright burst of purple flame tells you he’s now in Hound form.

“Such a shame Jake, to see each other on such… TENSE terms.” Dirk smile sarcastically and Jake scoffs.

 

\--

 

You sit on a park bench, waiting for Gamzee to return with this Vriska person. Dave leans against a tree next to you. He’s practically attached himself to your hip as soon as Jake left your side. He filled you in that he did in fact hear your calls and that Jake was one of his higher ups. An Archangel. 

“Hmm, seems Sollux has finally made it.” Dirk muses from his standing point near Jake, the two had been talking idly for some time now and you’d gotten the impression that they were somewhat friends. 

Your head whips towards the path you came down, seeing Sollux and Karkat walk closer. You’re up of your feet before they’re even in full view. After having calmed down from your fear-induced high, you can now access the proper emotions for the situation. Anger. 

Karkat has a long cut on his cheek and several bite marks on his arms. His side is cut and slashes and his back looks no better. He’s half being carried by Sollux who you quickly relieve of the duty with a sharp glare and take him to your bench. Sollux freezes once he catches sight of the look of hatred lights up your eyes.

Dave seems to have noticed your current mood because he helps you sit Karkat down on the bench without complaint. Karkat on the other hand, is trying to swat both your helping hands away, claiming he’s fine. That Hounds heal faster and he’ll be better in a week or two. Dave is almost too quick to agree, to pacify you.

You could really care less because you’re being selfish now. You and Karkat could have died tonight and once he’s supposedly “better”, you are going to kick his ass so the sooner the better, right? But for now, you (forcibly) lean his head on your shoulder wrap and arm around his shoulder. You keep him close and ignore the apprehensive looks Dirk and Jake exchange.

Silence seems to make the shadowed path wider, more desolate. There are no chirps from late night bugs or noises from birds and even the wind has gone to bed, leaving the trees in an eerie stillness. The stripe of sky you see from where leaves don’t obscure the view is black and sprinkled with stars and a sliver of a moon. You and Karkat occupy the only bench on the small running path while Jake and Dirk stand in the center of the path, Dave beside you. Sollux has opted to sit under a tree.

Suddenly the silence is broken by and obnoxious groan and the sound of footsteps on the path. Gamzee and another come into sight shortly after the sound is heard.

“Bluh! Why are we even out here you fucking clown? Why does Dirk want to see me out here?” A feminine voice complains loudly.

“Vriska dear,” Dirk brings his hand to the side of his mouth to amplify his voice. “Is nature not doin’ it for you?” His smirk is bright and teasing. The girl and Gamzee are now visible. The girl is tall and tanned, as if she spends most of her free time on a beach. Long, black locks travel down her back and she whips her head to the side in a hands-free attempt to get her bangs out of her eyes, which are a deep cobalt. Her eyes lock onto yours and she smiles menacingly.

“John! Long time no see, huh?” She strides over to you, Dave intercepts her path and she huffs.

“How do you know me?” You ask, speaking up. Her head finds its way around Dave’s figure and is peeking out from over his shoulder. Her face holds a shocked expression.

“Ruuuuuuuude! I’m offended by that you dork. How could you forget a lady such as I? You don’t, that’s how.” Hands on her hips, she sidesteps Dave and Dave is only stopped by Jake’s warning glance.

“Dirk, mind telling us why you brought her here?” Jake raises an eyebrow. Dave grunts in agreement, looking miffed. Dirk sighs and puts an arm around Vriska’s shoulder who quickly shakes it off and glares at the man. 

“I brought her here to explain.” He says and waves her forward, motioning for her to begin.

“John sold his soul to me eleven years ago and it’s time to collect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write action scenes! ugh! im sorry for this chapter and probably the next one too.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not happy with this but I figure I've kept you all waiting long enough.

“E-excuse me?” Dave stutters and even Jake looks a bit surprised but more so irritated. Karkat curls up closer to you, a soft gasp escaping and suddenly all eyes are on you.

“B-But I don’t-t remember ever doing that.” You whisper when you find your voice cannot go above that volume. Vriska laughs loudly and Karkat growls, a low sound in his chest that vibrates your arm that is currently against said chest. 

“Well I guess not everyone can have such an amazing memory like me! Especially a mere human. But I guess that’s not entirely true now is it?” She teases, leaning forward a bit. Karkat growls again and moves closer still. If Karkat wasn’t hurt, you’d push him off because gross; he’s getting blood all over your clothes. But he is hurt and you are also currently widening your eyes in recognition. 

Vriska… the name rings a small bell in your head, but the voice is different. The Vriska you remember was a small girl, about twelve years old. Vriska was a confident girl who had told you of only one way to save your father and a girl whom you had convinced yourself was only a product of your imagination.

“V-Vriska?” You whimper, realizing that probably wasn’t a dream. She brightens and smirks at you.

“Great! So he remembers! Now tell these uptight assholes with the wings what you remember and I can get the fuck out of here.” Vriska laughs. Dave grimaces and looks at you, a small frown replacing the look of contempt.

“I… I did agree to give her my soul? Because she said she’d save my dad. When we had the accident.” You say somberly. Well damn… You were going to… die then? Karkat buries his head his head into your shoulder and is mumbling something you don’t understand. Dave seems caught between glaring at you or glaring at Vriska. 

“Well, we best be leaving. I’ll be the nice guy today, since it is his birthday, and let be for now. We’ll come to collect tomorrow night. Seven sharp. And Karkat?” Dirk turns his head back towards the injured Hound on the bench, Sollux and Gamzee already at their Handler’s side with Vriska itching to leave and already walking past them. “I expect you at work in a few days. You’re not weak and you’re no slacker.” He turns back around and leaves. Sollux risks one last look back and catches Karkat’s gaze before he hurries off after everyone else.

It’s silent for a moment before Jake opens his mouth to speak and Dave erupts in anger.

“What the fuck?! Jake! There has to be something we can do!” Dave is seething and you can’t help but feel guilty. What ever made you think selling your soul was a good idea? Oh yeah, a ten year-old boy who’d already lost a mother and was too scared to lose his father would do that wouldn’t he? And at the time, you fit the bill perfectly.

“Nothing we can do Dave, I’m sorry. This was before you were assigned to John correct? Then you will not be punished.” Jake sighs in defeat.

“Like I give a damn about that!” 

“Dave.” Jake snaps and Dave shuts up surprisingly quickly. “You are not the only one upset here. I really wanted to keep his soul out of demon hands.” The archangel spoke the last part mostly to himself but you catch it and stand up, inquiring. Karkat hisses at you and what the fuck was with him and not talking to you? He just made a bunch of animalistic noises at you and most of them didn’t sound very friendly.

“Why did you want to do that? What’s important about me? Why did I need Dave to look after me in the first place?”

“To keep shit like this from going down, but oh look. It did anyway so big help that was waiting a month to assign someone to him.” The albino turns his anger from you back to Jake and is silenced again by Jake’s stern glare. Jake looks to you and sighs. 

“I suppose there isn’t much point in keeping you in the dark. Long story short, your mother did not disappear nor is she dead.” This stops all intelligent thought in your body and you have to remind yourself to breathe for a second. Your mom wasn’t dead? Where was she? Why had she left? Why did she never come back? 

“What are y-” You start but Jake just keeps on.

“Your mother broke a very important rule. One that should never be broken. She fell in love with a human and worse conceived a child with him. We took her back John. We gave her a fitting punishment: to never see you again. Look at the mess she’s gone and made! A month after we brought her back to Heaven I sent Dave to watch over you, to make sure you would be safe. We’ve never had a… a half-angel before. We had to keep a close eye. But I was obviously not keeping a close enough eye.” Jake seems to get more upset as he nears the end of his explanation. He seemed more upset with himself than anything but you don’t really process that. Because… your mother was an angel? She wasn’t dead and hadn’t abandoned you heartlessly? You didn’t know whether to be excited, sad, or confused so you settle for a mixture of all three.

You want to say something. You want to do something not dumb but all you can manage is plopping back on the bench, where Karkat moves away from you, with a muttered “Oh”. 

“I am truly sorry for this John.” Jake dips his head and Dave’s feathers ruffle. You’re drained. You just wanted to go to sleep but that seemed so… trivial, when you remembered you had until seven o’clock tomorrow to live. But you really don’t have a say in it because with the drastic change in adrenaline your body feels twice as heavy. You announce that you are going home. Dave offers to take you but you wave him off. 

You don’t notice Karkat following. He still isn’t talking to you and you think he’s mad at you. Well, you’re kind of mad at yourself too right now so he could wait. Hopefully not to long though, you already missed him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love to say I'm giving you a treat by posting two chapters but I'm only doing it cuz this one is so short. Sorry about this chapter.

**== > Be Dave**

There is a soft rapping at you balcony door, the curtains are drawn so you only manage a dim silhouette against the slowly brightening sky. You’d been trying to sleep. It just wasn’t happening. So you honestly don’t mind the intrusion for it will offer a much needed distraction. 

You stretch and feel your muscles flex before going to the closed curtains and open them from one side, peeking out into the predawn world. You jump back with only the manliest of squeaks when her tongue scores itself across the space your face would be had you two not been separated by glass. She’s laughing, you can’t hear it through the glass doors but you can see her draw back into a loud cackle. Dear God, what did she want?

A few fumbled movements and Terezi waltzes into your apartment. She glances around from the King bed to the television, glowing with some hospital drama on mute, in the bedroom she was let into. Hands on her hips she seems to approve of your living conditions and turns to face you.

“You gonna tell me what you’re doing here or what?” You say, taking your shades from the nightstand and slide them smoothly onto your face. Her own shades glare bright red from catching a ray of light.

“I told you I’d look into your little Hound case Dave. I also recall mentioning not half-assing it.” She smiles and sways, shifting her weight from foot to foot. It almost hurts as she says this. Oh yeah, you did used to be worried about that Karkat douche didn’t you? Not so much anymore. Obviously.

“Terezi,” you sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose. “That’s all over now. I don’t need any more help on the matter. Case closed.” She doesn’t falter, only laughs and it’s kind of pissing you off right now. The fuck was so damn funny? You’re about to tell her to leave when a new voice moans from your balcony.

“Are you just going to leave me out here? I thought Angels were supposed to be compassionate.” Comes the high whine of the last person you want see right now. Let alone have on your balcony. You whip around to face the voice and see a very bloody Vriska using her left hand to hold up her unsteady frame against the door jam. Her face was covered in blood and her messy hair was ten times worse, windswept and matted with dark blue. Her bangs barely cover the hole where her right eye was only few hours ago.

“What the hell happened?” You whisper, shocked more than disturbed by the sight. Terezi giggles in her scratchy voice but her voice is nothing but serious when she speaks.

“I found her like this. Well, no I didn’t I saved her. From another demon, one just like her. I learned a lot of things during that little scuffle. A lot. Of. Things.” She comes up behind you and places a hand on your shoulder, having to reach up a bit because of your height difference. “Go ahead Vriska, tell Dave here everything I heard.”

“You! You heard me screaming because you only watched that bitch rip off my arm! Why should I say anything?!” She spits and you grimace.

“Listen here _Vriska_ , I will personally throw your ass over that balcony if you spit anymore of your disgusting blood out on my carpet.” The words come out harsher than intended but you honestly don’t care. She glares at you and go take a quick trip to your bathroom and retrieve a few towels and spread them out at her feet. “Sit down, close the door, and don’t bleed on my carpet.” You snap. Surprisingly enough, she complies and wraps one of the towels around the bleeding nub that used to be her arm. Apparently someone _had_ ripped it off, it ended just below her shoulder. Demons healed from that kind of stuff quickly right? Not like you care. But if she had something interesting to say you didn’t want her to kick the bucket in the middle of it.

“Fine.” Vriska snarls and sneers at you. The rest of the day is full of you and Terezi patching up the treasured demon. Treasured because her words were priceless. You send Terezi to fetch Jake since he was your superior and call Dirk after wheedling his personal cell number out of Vriska. A meeting is set up at seven tonight in Dirk’s office to hear Vriska’s precious words.

Words that could save John. That _would_ save John’s life.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so there will be like, two more chapters after this. I can't be sure. maybe three. I might feel like a nice epilogue. anyway, here's this chapter.

**== > Be John**

Ok, so Karkat seems really mad at you. He’s yelling at you, completely baffled at how “unbelievably stupid you can be. I mean, every time you did something, he was almost positive that you had created a new means of idiocy but then you just go and fuck that up by one-upping yourself. I have never been proved wrong so many times before I met you, Egbert, you asinine shitstain. It’s an honest wonder how natural selection has let you get this far.” Karkat is seething in your apartment. He followed you here, shouting at you almost the whole way. At least this is better than the hard noises he was subjection you to in the park. Not by much though.

You know he’s only mad because he’s upset, you can see red tinted tears shine in his eyes and you are constantly stopping yourself from asking about this. It must be a demon thing, like the whole, colored-blood thing with Gamzee. You let Karkat rant and rave about how stupid you are and really, he deserves a medal for how fast he talk and still not run out of colorful insults and metaphors, and you hold him. It starts as a hug but then you lead him to your bed room and sit in the center of your bed, Karkat almost in your lap. You finally got him in your bed, hehe… woo…

“John! Dammit, listen to me when I’m talking to you.” You hadn’t noticed that Karkat had stopped his insult party and was now trying to get your attention.

“Sorry Karkat. What is it?” You ask, a small smile on your face. You really didn’t want to waste time being sad. Karkat scowls at you but at least he’s not on the verge of tears anymore. He’s pretty much melted into your touch by now, venting out his anger must have helped.

“I was saying…. Saying we could,” He drops off into a low mutter, as if losing the confidence to say it again.

“We could what?” You press, nuzzling your head into the crook of his neck. This surprises him but he quickly adjusts himself so you are both comfortable. 

“We could leave. They’d hunt us but I could keep you safe. I know people who would help us and I’m sure Dave would come too.” Karkat’s grip around your waist tightens protectively. 

“Yeah, he would.” You smile. “But no. I can’t Karkat. That would kinda suck to ruin you and Dave’s hard work just so I can stay alive.”

“Why do you have to be so stupid?” Karkat snaps with no venom, an empty comment. You snuggle closer to him.

“Sorry.”

 

**== > Be Kanaya**

You are not sure if you should be here given the current situation but it was requested of you and you are not completely sure how Karkat would react to either Gamzee or Sollux showing up. Eridan would be an acceptable neutral party but he was working. It was very important to Dirk that he fill the required quota so you, as the only member of your unit that would not cause a fight and or alter Dirk’s carefully calculated hunting schedule, were here as the messenger.

You knock on the apartment door, taking notice to how it looked newer than the rest of the of the apartment exterior. Odd. Your heightened senses pick up shuffling towards the door, slow even though it is five in the afternoon. The door opens but it is not Karkat.

“Hello, pardon my disturbance but I’m here to escort you and Karkat to-” You start politely but a very familiar growling registers and you look away from who you presume is the “John Egbert” everyone has been talking about today and lay your sights on Karkat.

“What the hell Kanaya, it’s only like, five-thirty!” Karkat growls again and you raise your hands in a placating manner. 

“Forgive me Karkat, but that is not what this is about. Something has apparently come up and the arrangement has been… postponed. But there is a conversation going on instead that requires your presence as well. I’ve been told it is highly important to John’s well-being but no more.” You relay the information you know, Dirk never gave out more than one needed to know, a fact that was welcome to you but also a bit tedious because your natural curiosity wanted to know. You wished someone would tell you what happened last night and why everyone came back either bloody, irate, or amused and satisfied. But no one seemed willing.

Karkat seems like he wants to say more but his voice dies and a small glimmer of hope flickers to life in his already bright red eyes. He straightens up and walks up behind John who seems just as curious about things as you but you find it hard to read him.

“Let’s get going then.” Karkat’s gruff voice breaks the momentary silence and John nods, somewhat unsure. You find it interesting how when Karkat places a hand on John’s shoulder the human visibly relaxes. You lead them both down the stairs and to the car Dirk has let you use to bring them back with you. Once your inside and start the car, you are off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally didn't plan to have kanaya's POV in here but decided to when I realized this chapter with only John was agonizingly short. it was so short because I don't want to just start all the resolution and stop halfway. haha, what kind of person would I be hahaha. im laughing because that's probably what im probably going to do anyway. lol


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope my Karkat is getting better. and sorry for such a long wait. here you go~

**== > Be Karkat**

Your life officially sucks, worse than usual that is. Not to mention the fact that this meeting is awkward as shit. Dirk lounged in a black chair that looked too new to be comfortable while the archangel guy—Jake—fiddles with the hem of his shirt. He’s dressed casually, a green skull decorating the front of his shirt. You find this odd but ignore it because you really could give no less of a fuck right now about anything other than the reason you are here, a reason that has not yet been divulged in conversation besides the fact it concerns John because your handler is an ass and refuses to actually start this meeting until it is exactly seven o’clock.

Dave taps his foot impatiently in some asinine rhythm and you’d be lying if you haven’t thought about stomping over to him and removing the offending appendage just to stop the sound from berating your eardrums any longer. You do not however because that would make John upset or some shit like that, you know this because the idiot keeps giving you these chiding looks whenever he sees you glaring metaphorical daggers at Dave.

Vriska’s here too, sporting stark white bandages over her right eye and the stump that was formally her arm. Well, not stark white because they’ve sullied slightly in the ten minutes you’ve been trapped in this hell hole—now is not the fucking time for puns, ugh, this is serious shit and requires a serious choice of words goddammit! Some teal angel is talking animatedly with Vriska even though the demon looks none too happy about it. 

You and John sit on a couch across from Dirk, the higher demon paying no attention to you but instead chatting it up with Jake. The clock strikes what you assume is seven—you don’t know, the damn thing is analogue but has no numbers and fuck if you have time for fucking analogue, that shit could kiss your demonic ass all the way to hell and back to this stupid couch—because Dirk sways in a fluid motion and rises to his feet without hesitation.

“Alright, so the girl can leave. This does not involve her.” Dirk begins, turning his head towards the teal angel. She stiffens and frowns, taking a deep intake of breath and turning to face Dirk head on, her eyes, like your Handler’s, are covered by a ridiculous pair of glasses. 

“I don’t think so mister, I was the one who uncovered such treachery in the first place, if anyone were to watch over these proceedings it should be me!” 

“Terezi, I really don’t think you should turn this into one of your court trials. This is serious.” Jake chides and Terezi sticks out her tongue childishly.

“Yo, English, I kinda think she does have a right. She did get the info for us and that douchebag kinda owes her for saving his pathetic little demon.” Dave adjusts his shades, which did not need to be adjusted, you silently add to yourself. Vriska growls and Jake ponders this for a moment.

“For the love of anything that is still worth my fucking time, can we all just put on our big girl panties and act like we can actually talk about shit like half-competent adults?” You shout, bristling because you were getting nowhere like this! John starts at your sudden outburst and Dirk has the audacity to smirk at you. “Is that too much to ask? I understand that for some of you, namely Dave and Vriska, being mature and reasonable about practically anything is a challenge in itself but let’s just try an remember that this is actually fucking important!” Once the word vomit is has run its course, you glare at everyone in the room save for John. Dirk chuckles for a moment then waves his hand in the general direction of Terezi.

“Fine, she can stay. And Shouty is right, let’s get down to business. But there is something I must do first so I apologize beforehand.” Dirk clears his throat and Dave gasps a split second before a dull _thump_ is heard and John slumps over the arm rest of the couch. You whip around to see Gamzee, grinning lazily, with a club in hand.

“ _What the fuck?!_ ” You scream and cover John, shielding him from Gamzee and inspecting his head for blood. Oh fuck no, please no! Dave lunges but is held back by Jake who is glaring at Dirk and if looks could kill… Gamzee drops the club and raises his hands in a placating gesture.

“Whoa now motherfucker, he’ll be all up and motherfuckin’ fine. Bro’s just unconscious and probably dreamin’ up some fuckin’ miracles. I all up and made sure it wasn’t enough to motherfuckin’ kill him.” Gamzee drawls but is met with similar snarls from you and Dave. Dirk clears his throat again, bringing attention back to him.

“Egad, Dirk! What were you thinking pulling something that?” Jake demands, his odd accent sounds even more off putting when angry. Dirk shakes his head.

“This discussion does not concern him.”

“This fucking discussion is _about_ him!” You yell, still holding John close.

“The boy doesn’t need to concern himself with this Karkat, and if you haven’t noticed this is already breaking rules by having him even know this much. We are meant to remain inconspicuous, a mere belief for some and superstition for others. If there is any argument about that, please, bitch and moan some more and postpone this actual discussion further.” Dirk crosses his arms and sits himself on the corner of his desk. Jake nods.

“Let’s begin. Dave, Terezi? What was this big thing you had to tell us?” 

“Why don’t we let Vriska tell you all about it?” Terezi coos in the demon’s ear. Her face goes cobalt with her rising blush and her head hangs in shame and… embarrassment? These were not common emotions for her. Not by a long shot.

“Vriska?” Dirk prompts after a long moment of mind-numbing silence. She hesitates and stutters something unintelligible. “Sorry sweetheart, can’t really hear you.” He snaps, losing his patience. Dirk was not one to wait longer than he had to. Waiting for all the pieces to fall into place was one thing, he could do that for eternity, but the man did not tolerate unnecessary stalling.

“I said John doesn’t belong to me.” She mumbles. The room freezes.

“What?” Dirk all but snarls and Vriska flinches.

“I-I said, he d-”

“I heard you Serket. What I am asking is what you meant by that.” Dirk clenches his fist and Jake seems utterly confused by this. Terezi is smirking and Dave’s features are blank sans a small flicker of hope that seems to rise but is squashed down again, as if he’s not letting himself think this might work. You on the other hand are ecstatic! Technically, John actually had belonged to the bitch when she owned his soul and let’s face it, you were pretty possessive and dammit John was _yours_!

“Well… I caused the accident.” Vriska says, louder this time because the first time she tried Dirk coldly told her to speak up again. You had to admit, Dirk could be really fucking terrifying when he was in one of his no-bullshit moods. He barely tolerated much bullshit to begin with.

“You _caused_ the accident?” Dirk repeats. Vriska nods slowly, scowling now in self-hate. “The accident that led to John selling his soul to you for his father’s life.” Dirk clarifies. 

Another nod.

“So wait… that means…” You begin hesitantly, not really believing it at first. 

“The contract they made is considered null and void!” Terezi shouts, startling half the room, yourself included. Dave allows himself a small smile and glances over fondly at John’s still unconscious form. It takes you a moment to process this. You don’t really understand, you never bothered with learning contract rules. Not your department. You collected souls, you focused on that and didn’t bother with anything else. Dave, his gaze focused on the body currently slumped against your shoulder, notices your confusion.

“Anyone want to explain to Vantas? That dumb look doesn’t really help his appearance.” You growl but Terezi interrupts brightly in her scratchy, high voice of hers. 

“Demons like Vriska make deals with people, as a Crossroads Demon, she has certain limitations. Her deals have to be made at a crossroad. An intersection of two roads. The deal consists of the human asking for something and the demon negotiating a time to collect. The human must be informed of the time and of course of the fact that by agreeing they are signing away their soul. This understanding must come before the actual deal is made, otherwise a rule is broken and the contract is considered useless. No soul for the demon.” Terezi explains, damn she could talk. You don’t really see why you should care about this but the angel’s body language suggests she’s not done and getting to the point.

“The reason that is, is because it would cause an unbalance. If you could make a wish, without knowing of the consequences or the fact that there were any in the first place, every human on Earth would probably make a deal with a Crossroads Demon at some point probably. That is why they have to inform the human beforehand of what they are giving in exchange for their desires. Most sensible people would say ‘no’. That is where a Crossroads Demon’s prime market consumer comes into play: the desperate.

“Someone truly desperate for something wouldn’t care about the price that had to be paid. So a rule was made, to keep the balance once again. Crossroads Demons could not hurt any human, directly or otherwise. Demons would cause disasters or kill humans in hopes of the desperate crawling to their doorsteps and begging for their granted wish. Again, an imbalance.” Terezi looks really into this and Dave spares you from this tortuous, informative monologue. 

“Basically, since she caused the accident, he contract doesn’t count and John stays with us.” Dave summarizes. You pull John closer, your hand around his waist and hope he wakes up soon. A small smile is forming on your face. Dirk mentions Vriska’s punishment for breaking such an important rule and Terezi jumps to her defense, claiming that since John was her first contract, such a mistake should be pardoned. And “as her lawyer” Terezi continued to “plead her client’s case” Dave facepalmed and Jake rolled his eyes with a smile. Dirk finally gave up and just opted to put her in “the time-out corner” for a few hours. You know that damned corner. It is pure hell, Hell itself wishes it were as bad as the time-out corner. A corner in the basement where you were strapped to an uncomfortable seat and forced to listen the asinine children’s songs on repeat for hours on end. You’d been sent there once, your eye hadn’t stopped twitching for a week. Vriska shivered in fear at the thought, as she should. You give her a sympathetic glance before remembering she deserves this shit. She’d almost been the cause for John’s death! Fuck her! She deserved to stay trapped in that fucking corner for a year for all you cared!

You are about to laugh in her face and taunt her when you remember something.

“How’d you get like that anyway?” You ask. Vriska’s head snaps up towards you. She growls until Dirk mentions he was curious as well. Not wanting to anger him further, she begins to talk.

“I… I kinda bragged. A bit. About getting a half-angel’s soul.” She cringes at sharp intake of breath from Dirk but continues. “Some other demon tried to kill me so she could take ownership of it but Terezisavedme.” The last part comes out in an ashamed rush and Terezi beams. You recall some bullshit about soul ownership with demons, kill one and you automatically inherit their owned souls. It was fucking stupid but so were most demons. Of course only higher demons or Crossroads demons owned souls and they were both strong enough to not be taken down easily so most didn’t challenge them. And if you were stronger, it was considered an insult to yourself to even consider wanted the souls some weaker demon collected. You were expected to get your own. Prideful bullshit, basically. 

But you could see where even a stronger demon would risk that pride for such a rare and unheard of thing. The soul of an angel-human hybrid must be pretty tantalizing to most demons. Dirk glares at Vriska then sighs. 

“Great… now it’s out there that a half-angel is running loose. Brilliant Vriska.” He sounds defeated. Jake worried.

“Goodness, that means others will be after John as well.” He fidgets. Dave looks to you and you answer his unspoken question with a nod. Who the hell did he think you were? Did he actually even need to ask? Were you going to go through all this crap and then _not_ protect John? Fuck. No. You would protect John with your life and you know Dave would too. Even if he was a douchebag. Dave clears his throat and smirks.

“Let them come.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if it was a bit anti-climactic. this isn't the end, you still have an epilogue and side stories to look forward to. so stay with me! :)

**Author's Note:**

> so as I already said, I'm really excited about this and I hope I do a good job of this. I will try to update pretty regularly since I've got this pretty planned out


End file.
